I heart Keith Olbermann

Here we go again.....

So tomorrow I start a new life. A new (maybe temporary) home and possibly a new job. Now, if things go according to plan, it could be wonderful. But since nothing ever goes according to plan, I have stressed myself out so much that I have a new "ulcer".

The one sure thing in my life right now is that there are endless possibilities. I just hope Im quick enough, and lucky enough to find the right ones.

Above is a picture that pretty sums up how Im feeling- Im about to get eaten alive

I LOVE Turtles!

Turtle Nabs Drug Suspect

A box turtle equipped with GPS helps police nab a suspect growing marijuana in Rock Creek Park.

Just south of the DC/Maryland line, a turtle wearing a GPS device for research purposes makes an amazing discovery.

"The ranger in charge of the program discovered the turtle in the middle of a marijuana field," Sgt. Robert Lachance of the U.S. Park Police says.

Its been two weeks since my tests and I have, I think, finally gotten used to having free time that I dont have to feel guilty about. So I started reading NY Times, and quickly, as usual, became very depressed.

For almost a month, my news consumption had hit an all time low. I looked at the NY Times main page, scanned for what I thought was the most important/interesting and that was about it. I was feeling rather bad about being so uninformed, but I needed to study.

Sidebar
Caltech is a perfect place to study because you are surrounded by people who will always be 10x smarter than you on their worst day. This motivated me, since most of the people I smiled at while walking on campus, refused to return the sentiment. "Im smart dammit!" I wanted to scream, but would then return to my room and attempt to relearn 4 years of college biology and hang my head in despair.

Warm fuzzy CSET studying trivia: I had been studying some chemistry and came across the work of Robert Millikan, who found the charge of an electron from oil droplets suspended between two electrodes (WTF?!, I know). I then went on tour of Caltech and what do we come across? A bust of Robert fuckin Millikan, who was once president of Caltech. <3

Oh, one more Caltech warm fuzzy. SoCal just happened to have an earthquake, a rather large one, and who was everyone looking to for info? Caltech.

Anyways, back to depressing news. So today, I finally got back into the routine of reading the news, and I just became increasingly upset at what I was reading, beating myself up that I cannot change the world tomorrow. How long can I take these beatings? I dont know. What I do know is that it is rather unhealthy and cant possible be helping me fight my issue with chronic stress. So....just to included everyone in on the fun, here are two articles that make me want to jump out a window.

'The Jungle', Again
The Biggest Issue

(Yes, I realize they are op-ed's but that doesnt mean they still dont piss me off)

Besides all that, Im well, and excited to return back to my life in a little over a week, with some new exciting/terrifying additions. : )

P.S. I now have a facebook and it has (of course) become an addiction

All grown up....

The Chatterbox a cool place to hang out

So my friend's bar is in the newspaper today and I cant help but be proud. Having been a patron since the beginning, I have many fond (and not so fond) memories of this place, so Im happy that it has grown to be successful. Plus, it has Negro Modelo...my favorite beer, thanks Ralph.



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Now playing: The Twilight Sad - Mapped By What Surrounded Them
via FoxyTunes

OOOOOHHHHHGGGHHHHHH!

Cheney’s Office and the Course of Climate Policy

The White House, in 2004 and 2008, has said that any presidential administration has every right to adjust or shape information flowing through the government agencies it manages. A central defender of the Bush administration’s vetting of last fall’s testimony on climate and health was John H. Marburger III, the president’s science adviser. In my 2004 story, displaying his usual candor, Dr. Marburger justified administration actions of this sort this way:

“So there’s always going to be a tilt in an administration like this one to a certain set of actions that you take to achieve some policy objective,” he said. “In general, science may give you some limits and tell you some boundary conditions on that set of actions, but it really doesn’t tell you what to do.”

There's a lot of shit going on today...
6 Die in Attact on U.S. Post in Turkey
Iran Reports Missile Test in Show of Force
Senate Backs Wiretap Bill to Shield Phone Companies (this one breaks my heart)



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Now playing: Electrelane - Birds
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NatalieDee

So today I find out about Obama's stance on late term abortion and what he thinks are good enough reasons for it. Now, Obama is starting to piss me off. I know he can't please everyone, and Im ok with that, but when men start talking about what they think validates an abortion, i get a little nutty. Especially when its to pander to the pro-lifers, who don't give a shit about life once that baby is born to a mother who is either too poor, young, abused, scared or all of the above.

You know how you reduce abortion? EDUCATION and access to REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE. Yup, all that abstinence training is a bunch of bull shit. You can't have our teens watching/listening oversexed media and then think they'll wait till marriage before getting down. Does nobody in Washington remember how they felt at 16?! And for the rest of us, we all know our lives change at the drop of a hat, no matter how much we prepare and plan. Why do we have to keep trying to win those voters when they'll never accept anything but making abortion illegal?

There is no way Ill vote for McCain, but that Obama magnet I have on my car is starting to bother me.


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Now playing: Santogold - Les Artistes
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Whew!!
So I have internet, but now I just dont have any time. I am coming up on my second week of being an RA at Caltech and Im exhausted. Its non stop entertaining and although I enjoy my residents and the activities, I really miss doing absolutely nothing. In the past couple days Ive spent the day at the beach in Santa Monica, watched fireworks in Pasadena, been to Hollywood and Universal Studios Citywalk. Im burnt crispy and my feet hurt. Today is the Getty. To top it all off, im studying for my CSET on the 19th. Ugh.

Being at Caltech has been pretty amazing, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think Id be living on this campus. Just being in close proximity to great science research makes me giddy. The people I work with have become great friends and we spent last night eating ridiculously amazing scones ( on of my bosses is going to school to be a baker) and laughing so much my stomach hurt. Im tired but blissfully happy.


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Now playing: Sean Lennon - Wasted
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I had to link to this blog entry because I think it kicks ass. I am often thought of as an angry, irrational and hysterical person because of my political views and that usually shuts me up because Im tired of fighting with assholes. Basically it means I need to find some new people to hang out with. Anyways, woot woot!

I decided to dedicate this post to the code words typically attributed to feminists. Of course you cannot point out social injustice without being angry, irrational, and hysterical. All logical people naturally exist as automatons, going through their days parroting the status quo. Only an unbalanced person would even begin to think that the system we live under could possibly be unfair. What do you mean all men operate with gender privilege? In fact even pointing out that calling a feminist angry, irrational, and hysterical is sexist, is enough to further entrench the views of some.

Read more

Holy Crap!

I was so dedicated to blogging that I never thought almost 2 months would go by without posting. Thanks to Peter, I have decided to squeeze in at least an update.

Having a job and no internet made it a little tricky to post. By the time I made it through LA traffic after work to the library, I was exhausted and had barely enough mental energy to check my email. Then I started school again, which means reading the news and my beloved blogs is almost nonexistent. So, what kept me alive when I had nothing to do, is now a guilty pleasure. Even now, I feel I should be doing some hw instead of this.

So, Im way behind in the news and this irritates me. I read maybe a few eye catching articles from the NY Times and then I copy and past some others to a Word document that I hope to get to later in the day. It very rarely happens. Now instead of being depressed because of all the bad news, Im depressed that I dont have the time to read all the bad news.

Things I hate:
buying baby stuff
going "green"- its turned into a fad
"green" commercials
where is Heroes?!
traffic
LA it just too big
straightening my hair
not having time to read

Things I love
Countdown with Keith Olbermann (sp?)
museums
my new bangs
living in LA
H&M
NY Times
Pasadena Central library
high school kids
my Ipod shuffel- thanks Jen!
LA Weekly
talking to Peter

ok, ill try to keep this updated at least every 2 weeks!

1) So, while waiting to cross the street, a truck drove by and the man in the passenger seat yelled out “hey!” So I turned to figure out what he wanted, and the fucker started blowing me kisses. To make matters worse, the truck had a Hillary for President sticker on it. Hypocrite.

2) Today is Earth Day and while I’m all for environmentalism, I’m tired of the “green” bullshit. TV commercials by Clorox and Chevron talk about their “green” products or how they are moving towards a more “green” business. Yeah fucking right. If the gas companies hadn’t hired such ruthless lobbyist to keep America dependent on oil, we most likely would not be in the predicament we’re in ( I just paid $3.83/gal for gas the other day and yes, I felt super guilty). Our scientists and engineers would have long ago thought up cleaner, cheaper and less invasive energy sources. “Green” has now become a marketing ploy to BUY MORE STUFF WE DON’T NEED.

3) On Thursday I have to teach a lesson in front of a class, a principal and the school director. It’s, my second interview for a full time teaching position at a charter school and I am terrified. At the moment, I still have yet to hear what I need to teach and how long it should be. I have major planning, studying and practicing to do and so far have less then 2 days to do it. I’m trying to not get so stressed about it, but I really want this position. What ultimately sold me was that there is tons of open space and the director told me that if wanted, I could turn some of it into a garden. Holy Shit, a dream come true. Wish me luck.

4) Here are two op-ed articles I found that I just could not resist posting. In fact, I think they go hand in hand.

Clueless in America

We don’t hear a great deal about education in the presidential campaign. It’s much too serious a topic to compete with such fun stuff as Hillary tossing back a shot of whiskey, or Barack rolling a gutter ball.

The nation’s future may depend on how well we educate the current and future generations, but (like the renovation of the nation’s infrastructure, or a serious search for better sources of energy) that can wait. At the moment, no one seems to have the will to engage any of the most serious challenges facing the U.S.

An American kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. That’s more than a million every year, a sign of big trouble for these largely clueless youngsters in an era in which a college education is crucial to maintaining a middle-class quality of life — and for the country as a whole in a world that is becoming more hotly competitive every day.

Still with stupid?

With political discourse reduced to screaming contests and actual news eclipsed by exclusive and shocking footage of celebrities without makeup, we've become not only impatient with but downright opposed to the kinds of ideas that can't be reduced to a line on a screen crawl or a two-sentence blog entry.

What's more, a lot of people who harbor an intolerance for complexity see it not as a character flaw but a cognitive virtue. That's because they've fallen into the trap of believing that complicated ideas ("complicated" now constituting anything that requires reading, watching or listening to in its entirety) are the purview of the "elite."

I find it very difficult to post when Im in the library. I don’t really know why. I guess maybe because I don’t want anyone to see what Im writing, or since I can only sit so long on that hard wood chair, Id rather spend my time reading. So, Ive decided to write my post at home, using Word, and then when I go to the library, ill paste it onto my blog. Lame? Maybe, then again, I may post more this way.

1) 1) Last week I went to go hear a lecture given by Stephen Hawkings. It started at 8 pm, but since seating was based on first come, first serve, I got there at 5. At that time there was already a huge line. I guess when you’re a famous scientist talking at CalTech, one should assume there will be a lot of geeks around. Anyways, even after waiting 3 hrs in line, I barely made the cut off to be in the auditorium he was speaking in. Everyone after, at least another 500 more, was sent to another place, and watch him on a screen. The lecture kicked ass. It felt so good to be there. My happy place is a college campus. Then to be around so many people interested in science. And to top it off, since CalTech is a prestigious school, there were lots of cute (SMART) guys with accents : ) I just wish I understood more about cosmology, a lot of it was hard for my brain to process, but it was still pretty amazing. I have a new crush : )

2) 2) While subbing last week I suffered a bout of depression. It was at a high school, and for the most part it was easy (middle school kids are a handful), but I just couldn’t get past how undervalued I was. I was reading an article in National Geographic about biomimetrics (they were taking a test), I had just seen Stephen Hawkings the night before, had a degree in Molecular Biology and day after day, I have to babysit kids that could give a rats ass about their education and love to just be a pain in the ass. I realized why it is so hard to recruit science and math teachers. We work our asses off and for the most part the kids HATE science, HATE school, and HATE taking responsibility for their own actions ( every time I catch some kid doing something, he/she would blame someone eles). They never have paper or pens, but have ipods and cellphones. And in one instance, when they find my pen case, they steal my favorite Sharpie. I know its hard because I don’t know these kids, that the classes I sub for are not mine and that they may have a boring/bad teacher. I have good days and bad days, and things may get better when I get my own class, and I am teaching in East LA so it was expected that these kids would test me, but I still worry.

3) 3) Funny subbing story: I was getting frustrated because of all the trash on the floor. I don’t know about middle school kids, but when they leave a class room, there is trash everywhere. For students who say they never have any paper, they find it somewhere and turn it into airplanes and paper balls. ( You should see my backpack at the end of the day, its full of stuff I confiscate!) Anyways, I walked to a particularly messy area and said “You guys need to pick up all this shi…” I caught myself before I finished, but the kids new exactly what I ment. I thought they were going to jump all over me for it, but the reaction I got was interesting.

Students: You cussed Ms.!! (that’s what they call me)
Me: Almost, I caught myself (huge grin on my face )
Students: You cussed! You’re cool Ms.!!

They immediately started to pick up the trash, after several failed attempts earlier! Maybe because I was talking on their level or maybe it showed that I was human. Too bad I can't use that method more often.

So, ideally Id be updating this blog often, but we dont live in ideal world (evidence seen in previous blogs) I have been struggling to get a routine going, and since I dont have internet at my grandma's making time to go to the library before 9pm is a little difficult. Finally figure out that i would just do a lot of cut and pasting, that way I can read at home and not spend 4 hrs ( timed parking) at the library (which I can do very easily). Point being, be patient with me, I hope to have everything figured out soon. Im well, work is good, not only just because Im working but because Im getting a lot of experience. I have A LOT to learn

One Minute News Vacation

This is so me : )

Thursday was my first day as a substitute teacher. It was at a middle school, for a science class. For 6 periods I helped students make microscopes. Some periods were better than others, with decent microscopes and better classroom manners, but I had fun. For some reason some kid kept asking me sex questions, not to be crude, he was just curious. I kinda felt sorry for him because he was super embarrassed asking me, and they were relatively common sense questions. Great sex ed we have in our classrooms. Friday I subbed for another science class, but at a different middle school. Those kids pushed me too my limits. It didnt help that the lesson that was left for me was super boring, read the chapter and answer questions on phases of matter (solid, liquid and gas). I always knew my biggest problem was going to be discipline. I don't really know much about the rules or what is considered a behavior problem worth sending someone to the office, or just something I need to deal with on my own. Either way, it was a learning experience and I had fun. It also feels great that Im working again. : )

I haven't started working yet, mainly since its spring break and few schools are all round, so have spent most of my time reading and chatting it up with grandma. My new hangout is Arcadia Public Library and although I miss something more comfortable to sit in while reading the news ( it has WiFi and I surf the net on my own computer), its nice to people watch and read (one of my favorite things do to in Santa Cruz). Also, hanging out with the grandma is always interesting. Today, over a breakfast of soy chorizo and potatoes with beans and salsa ( YUM, she happens to be an amazing cook) we talked about all sorts of stuff, a good chunk about marriage (she sees it as a way to honor God, I think its just a piece a paper). One would think these conversations could get heated, but they don't. She'll either slyly change the subject very, or just agree to disagree. Yesterday, she asked about Obama's speech on race, and even though a VERY strong supporter of Clinton, she was pleased with what he said and that he did not reject his pastor (did I mention she was very religious?)

Anyways, here are my musings for the day:

China, Tibet and the Olympics: So China has been getting some heat for awhile. Suffering from insane amounts of pollution, a history of human rights offenses, not urging Sudan to do more about Dafur and recently (well not really) its issues with Tibet which have resulted in some violence this week. All of these offenses have some call for a boycott of the Summer Olympics being held in China this year. China is even claiming that the Dali Lama is the one who is calling for the violence in Tibet, even though he recently said he would resign if that were true. People have been calling for a boycott. While I do believe we should be supporting our athletes, I feel that it should be known that while they may be able to control dissent in their country, they cannot control it in this one (this said while im giving the middle finger to the telecom's via telepathy over the internet connection). Anyways, while reading the comments of the linked article I read one that struck me as simple yet effective. While the torch is being carried through Tibet, everyone should wear something that is bright yellow, showing unity with Tibet, that way when televised, you will see a bunch of yellow. The Tibetan flag has a sun on it. Im all about symbolism.

US high school graduation rate discrepancies: Here we go again. So, states have found that the numbers that they give to the federal government and the ones for the state are different, by a good amount. Surprised? And California wants to cut education budgets...what a mess.

MTV Awards More Relevent than Oscars? Is that a good thing? I guess we'll see when they release the nominees. Now, it has always been my impression that the Oscar's are about well done movies and performances, while MTV is about what is most popular. I just seen No Country for Old Men last night, and it really was damn good. I doubt popular culture thinks so. If relevance is about honoring crap that people pay to see to not think, I think we should be worried. Then again, it could just mean that the Oscars, not the movies, is kinda boring. This post is for my film buff friend Peter.

An F-You to: Dick Chaney
An interview with the VP:

Q: Let me go back to the Americans. Two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting, and they're looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

Read the rest

Aye, Aye, Aye.

UPDATE:

My thoughts on the Obama speech:

As I am an avid reader, the offensive remarks of the religious right have not escaped me. Naively, I was surprised that what Wright (Obamas’s pastor) had said made news, when comments from the religious right, new buddies of McCain, had not. Would I have phrased my dissent in the same way? No, although I certainly understand the truth behind it, and like Obama discussed, context is everything.

Racism in this country is very relevant in many people’s lives. To deny that the ghosts of slavery or segregation no longer haunt us has only to look at academic achievement, neighborhoods that contain high proportions of minorities, politics and our prison system (to name a few). It is time to discuss race, to put it in the context of both the majority and the minority and to be honest about its effects (bitterness, anger, hopelessness, and ignorance). And I think Obama did that marvelously.

He took a difficult subject and honestly addressed it. I think that his ability to articulate such an issue as well as he did shows the type of president he could be. He did not reject his pastor completely, but his words instead. If the Religious Right is so insistent on getting Christian morals into the White House, I suggest they embrace this man instead of their hate filled republicans ( Sally Kern comes to mind) Then again, I think we all know that’s not what they really want.

I have said before that I don’t believe that any one person can solve all the problems this country has. And I don’t pretend that Obama is without faults and weaknesses, after all, he’s human. But Id much rather have a man like Obama attempting it.

And because it can always be said better by someone eles

Watch it:



WOW

Obama 2008

I promise Ill write something a more articulate soon

This is so bad, I dont even know what to say:

Oklahoma House Bill 2211, the "Religious Viewpoints Anti-discrimination Act" Via Pharyngula:

The bill requires public schools to guarantee students the right to express their religious viewpoints in a public forum, in class, in homework and in other ways without being penalized. If a student's religious beliefs were in conflict with scientific theory, and the student chose to express those beliefs rather than explain the theory in response to an exam question, the student's incorrect response would be deemed satisfactory, according to this bill.

The school would be required to reward the student with a good grade, or be considered in violation of the law. Even simple, factual information such as the age of the earth (4.65 billion years) would be subject to the student's belief, and if the student answered 6,000 years based on his or her religious belief, the school would have to credit it as correct. Science education becomes absurd under such a situation.

Here is what DarkSyde at Daily Kos had to say

So today is the day I move to LA.....for the second time. Im really excited of what can come of this move and my new job as a substitute teacher. Yet I am extremely worried about my future. A career in education does not look promising right now since California is looking to cut funding for schools. The LA Times talks about teacher layoffs almost daily and factor in a recession and other national economic woes and Im just plain nervous. Im trying to remain optimistic, but it's been difficult. Maybe, my next move should be out of the state? Anyways, blog posting may slow, but I will still update and work on my writing skills. A future goal is to become a science writer, so this blog may start to have more science posts, just to get some practice. Of course it will still have my rants...I know those are probably more interesting.

Wish me luck!

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Now playing: Wilco - Please Be Patient With Me
via FoxyTunes

Holy Shit

Via Huffington Post

Three people upset that a news crew was reporting on the arrest of a relative attacked the television reporter and yelled racial slurs at her and a photographer, authorities said Tuesday.

The family members, all white, began yelling and charged at black WSPA-TV reporter Charmayne Brown while she was standing in the street near the family's home in Union, said news director Alex Bongiorno.

Brown was punched in the head, and black cameraman Ti Barnes was also struck as he tried to pull family members off Brown, Bongiorno said. A video of the attack shows Brown, who wasn't seriously injured, defending herself.

"I think she's more affected by the verbal abuse than the physical abuse. She's really shaken up," Bongiorno said.

The fight was taped by a white crew from a second television station. They were not attacked.

And being black is helping Obama out?

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

And what about this?
U.S. Imprisons One in 100 Adults, Report Says

The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars.

Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 adult Hispanic men is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 adult black men is, too, as is one in nine black men ages 20 to 34.

Sex Infections Found in Quarter of Teenage Girls

1) Couldn't they have come up with a better title? Sounds like the girls are covered in pustules
2) Where the fuck are the stats on the boys? Oh wait, boys don't get STI's
3) Abstinence only sex ed is obviously not working

In regards to the president's demand for blanket immunity for telecoms:



Kick ass. He is lying, he knows it, some of the Democrats know it, and I know it. Bastard

Found at Daily Kos

A Brown Woman's Open Letter to Geraldine Ferraro & the Clinton Campaign

Dear Geraldine Ferraro and Clinton Campaign,

Geraldine Ferraro, I would like you to know that I am someone who always gives people the benefit of the doubt, but it was through your arrogant responses to the backlash you have received that I am convinced that you meant exactly what you said. I don’t know much about you, I was only 1 year old when you were the Vice President nominee, but as a fellow Democrat, the last 48 hours have deeply troubled me.

I would like you to know that the combination of your statement(s) and the Clinton campaign’s response; I cried last night. Yes, I cried. Let’s start with this:

You said: "He happens to be very lucky to be who he is"

It reminded me of when I was 17 years old sitting in my AP Calculus class, and a "friend" in "congratulating" me for being accepted into a prestigious undergraduate institution told me how "you’re so lucky that you’re last name is ______." Because of course, to him, my higher test scores and higher GPA were nothing in balance to my Spanish surname. That was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life, yet I went home and cried to my father. I woke up the next morning with an e-mail from my dad saying, "Yes, you are lucky to be Mexican. Because Mexicans are some of the hardest working people in the world."

I received multiple comments like that as a teen, and admittedly they affected me. It took me a couple of years as an undergraduate to feel as though I was more than a charity case, that my spot was earned, even though I knew my qualifications and hard work better than anyone that made such comments.

There's More

Damn, there are many times where I feel exactly the same.

So, there has been a ridiculous amount of bullshit articles circulating lately. Ive commented on a couple of them this week, and here are two that I read, but was just too tired to rip apart.

Want to have a baby? Now's the Time

For Hillary's Campaign, Its Been A Class Struggle

There is more (if you can even believe it) but yeah, linking gets old

Anyways, Katha Pollitt gave an ass kicking to Charlotte Allen today. It isnt our stupidity that pisses Allen off but:

that these women reject, with every fiber of their latte-loving beings, the abstinence-only, father-knows-best, slut-shaming crabbed misogyny of the Republican right.

Gotta love it

There is something about Radiohead that just makes everything OK. Today while listening to this song, I entered a state I am rarely in, absolute peace.

House of Cards- Radiohead



What wouldn't I do to make out (or more) with Thom Yorke : )

Can I get an Amen?

Old habits die hard. I admit I still flinch if someone calls me a bitch. But I must remember to be proud that I am no longer invisible, and therefore pleasing to everyone and anyone. And I think of my favorite real-life bitch, my dog and companion. Now there's a role model.

She's faithful, loving, valuable, warm, nurturing, intelligent, affectionate and capable of ripping someone who attacks me or my loved ones to ribbons. She's a bitch and, except for the way she drools and sheds, I want to be just like her.

Is 'Bitch' the New Black?

I really, really, really, hate this company.

So, right now Monsanto is fighting to have labels taken off milk that say "rbgh free". Hmm, maybe because people realize that they don't want milk from cows pumped full of unnatural growth hormones. Monsanto claims there's no difference in the milk and that bgh is natural (that is before it's been modified into rbgh which makes cows produce much more milk, to the point that they go to slaughter much earlier than non rbgh cows). Fuckers.

So I guess a Glamour editor got herself into trouble because she said that "political" hairstyles such as a fro or dreadlocks are not appropriate for the office. I don't know about you, but my fro is in no way political, I was born with it. To compensate for this ridiculousness, Glamour decided to create a panel of women to discuss why "biased beauty standards are still around". They talked a lot about hair, and what it meant to them to have it straight or to leave it natural.

Floyd: Even now, often hair is the way we are differentiated in this culture. To me the decision to straighten your hair is deeply political. When I have my Afro and walk down the street, there’s no doubt that I’m black. With this [straightened] hair, if I talk about being black on air, viewers write and say, “You’re black?!” I feel [straightening your hair] is giving up a sense of your identity. Let’s be honest: It’s an effort to look Anglo-Saxon.

For the past 2 years, I have been regularly straightening my hair. For a bit, it was a nice change. I got tons of compliments, I could brush my hair whenever I wanted, and I didn't have to wash my hair everyday (which my hair loved, the dead have feelings too). But the novelty soon wore off, and although I really wanted to wear my hair curly again, I continued to straighten it. Why? Because I felt that with my hair straight, I looked more professional and grown up, something I have been trying to achieve, unsuccessfully, since I graduated college.

I couldn't really verbalize why I felt this way, but whenever I wore my hair curly, its wildness seemed.... unprofessional and childish, maybe even a bit rebellious. But I love my hair curly, and feel much more like me when I wear it that way (not that I feel my personality is unprofessional or childish). Why the hell was I worrying over my hair? Why did I feel like I was making a statement when I wore my hair curly? Why did I equate curly hair with being unprofessional and straight hair as professional? After reading the Racialicious blog I think I finally found my answer.

But this does not change the reality that “white” is considered the golden standard and that everything else is deemed unacceptable. Straightened hair, fairer skin, keener features are all considered beautiful while anything else is automatically considered unattractive. If you are a woman of color, you suddenly find yourself under enormous pressure to compensate for that you “lack.”

And from the Glamour panel:

REESE: I’d like us to consider how we see things. When it comes to race, we’re looking from the past. When people see me with my natural hair, they don’t see Dr. Venus Opal Reese who has four degrees, they see an historical idea of what natural hair means. And that’s what it meant in the 1970s and 1960s; it equaled black nationalism and was linked to the Black Panther Party. It was considered militant. That doesn’t mean it’s true now, but that’s how it’s linked.

Holy Shit! So, I refuse to any longer feel guilty for liking to wear my hair natural. I refuse to let myself be fooled into thinking curly hair makes me appear any less professional. Its humbling to know that even when I thought I was above buying into beauty norms, I was unknowingly perpetuating one.

Hahaha!

Mumbai's Traffic Generates It's Own Ad Campaign

Why Must Teachers Close The Budget Deficit?

Of course, there is also the long-term damage to the state through these crippling education cuts. Larger class sizes and fewer classrooms mean fewer students will learn. Fewer students will attend college, fewer will get good jobs or create new businesses and technologies. The state will be set back even further - California will become Mississippi.

Unfortunately, our country doesn't really think about the future consequences of our actions. To name a few current examples: Iraq, global warming, our dependence on oil, factory farming, environmental destruction, suburbia, genetically modified food and abstinence only education. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

I had posted a NY Times article on MySpace about a new book coming out on how Americans are hostile to knowledge, and another article came out recently about teenagers being rather ignorant of history and literature facts ( granted some of the questions I could not answer). I would love to do a science survey. Just when our students seem to be learning less, falling behind other countries, California, home to some of the most prestigious universities in the country, is ready to slash funding so crucially that we are going to layoff teachers in the thousands?! And that's just in Orange County.

No Child Left Behind has done plenty by itself to make education into an assembly line, why must we make our students suffer any more?

On another note, as an aspiring teacher, where does that leave me? When will the budget include hiring new teachers? Do I give up and go back to school in something else? Since we're in a recession, its not like I can get a random job till things get better, so I'm not sure I can just wait it out. I have the worst timing.

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P.S. I LOVE this song....thank you Peter

From the Democratic Caucus's Senate Journal:

War in Iraq has cost the lives and livelihoods of thousands of brave men and women in uniform:

3,972 U.S. Troops Have Been Killed in Iraq. According to iCasualties.org, 3,972 American troops have been killed in Iraq as of February 25, 2008. [iCasualties.org, 2/27/08]

29,080 American Soldiers Wounded Through January 2008. According to iCasualties.org, 29,080 U.S. troops have been wounded in support in Iraq through January 2008. [iCasualties.org, 2/27/08]

Iraq war has had tremendous fiscal and economic costs:

Current Cost of War in Iraq Is Almost $11 Billion Per Month. “In FY2007, DOD’s monthly obligations for contracts and pay averaged about $12.3 billion including about $10.3 billion for Iraq and $2.0 billion for Afghanistan.” [CRS Report, 2/22/08]

That Amounts to…

• $332,258,064 Per Day
• $13,844,086 Per Hour
• $230,734 Per Minute
• $3,845 Per Second

U.S. Has Already Spent $526 Billion on War in Iraq. “This $700 billion total covers all war-related appropriations from FY2001 in supplementals, regular appropriations, and continuing resolutions including not quite half of the FY2008 request. Of that total, CRS estimates that Iraq will receive about $526 billion (75%), OEF about $140 billion (20%), and enhanced base security about $28 billion (4%), with about $5 billion that CRS cannot allocate (1%).” [CRS Report, 2/22/08]

The Bush Administration Requested $72.8 Billion for War Costs in 2009 So Far. “For FY2009, the Administration has requested about $72.8 billion for war costs including a “placeholder” DOD war request of $70 billion, $1.5 billion for State Department/USAID foreign and diplomatic operations, and $1.3 billion for VA medical care for OIF and OEF veterans. Details for DOD’s request are expected after General David Petraeus makes his recommendations about future troop levels in April. With the pending FY2008 and FY2009 requests, the total for enacted or requested war funding is about $878 billion.” [CRS Report, 2/22/08]

Funding for Iraq War Increased 160% Between 2004 and 2008. “Annual war appropriations more than doubled from about $34 billion in FY2001/FY2002 to about $80 billion with the preparation for and invasion of Iraq in FY2003 (see Table 3). Based on passage of the FY2007 Supplemental, annual DOD funding are growing by an additional 75% between FY2004 and FY2007. If DOD’s total FY2008 request is enacted, the level in FY2008 would be 160% higher or more than one-and-one-half times larger than FY2004.” [CRS Report, 2/22/08]

Joint Economic Committee Estimated Total Cost of the at $1.3 Trillion Through 2008 - $16,500 for a Family of Four. The Joint Economic Committee has estimated that the total budgetary and economic costs of the Iraq War from FY 2002-2008 to be $1.3 trillion. This cost amounts to $16,500 in war costs for a family of four. These economic costs include the ongoing drain on U.S. economic growth created by Iraq-related borrowing, the disruptive effects of the conflict on world oil markets, the future care of our injured veterans, repair costs for the military, and other undisclosed costs. [Joint Economic Committee, 11/07]

Joint Economic Committee Estimated Total Cost of $2.8 Trillion Through 2017, Assuming Gradual Drawdown to 55,000 Troops. The Joint Economic Committee also estimated that assuming troops are gradually drawn down to 55,000 troops by 2013 and that level remained constant through 2017, the total economic cost of the war would be $2.8 trillion, or $36,900 for a family of four. [Joint Economic Committee, 11/07]

While pouring money into Iraq, we have failed to invest in domestic priorites here at home:

No Child Left Behind Has Been Underfunded By $71 Billion Since 2002. Since 2002 when it was enacted, the No Child Left Behind Act has been underfunded by $71 billion. This cumulative funding gap is comprised of the difference between funding authorized by the bill and the actual annual appropriations from FY 2002 through FY 2008. [NEA, 2/25/08]

American Society of Civil Engineers Estimated U.S. Must Invest $1.6 Trillion Over 5 Years to Bring the Nation's Infrastructure to Good Condition. In 2005, the Americans Society of Civil Engineers estimated that $1.6 trillion is needed over a five-year period to bring the nation's infrastructure to good condition. [American Society of Civil Engineers, Action Plan for the 110th Congress]

The Cost of 4 months in Iraq Could Modernize and Ensure Interoperable Communications for America’s 2.5 Million First Responders. The Department of Homeland Security has estimated that it would cost $40 billion to modernize communications for the 2.5 million first responders in the United States. [Department of Homeland Security, 3/17/04]

The Cost of 3 Months in Iraq Could Secure All Weapons-Usable Materials in Russia, to Prevent This Material From Falling Into the Hands of Terrorists. In the countries of the former Soviet Union there is currently enough unsecured radioactive material to build 40,000 nuclear weapons. In 2001, the bipartisan Baker-Cutler Commission stated that the “most urgent unmet national security threat to the United States today, is the danger that weapons of mass-destruction or weapons-usable material in Russia could be stolen and sold to terrorists or hostile nation states and used against American troops abroad or citizens at home. The Commission reported that it would cost $30 billion over eight to ten years to secure all weapons-usable material in Russia. [Campaign for America’s Future, A Report Card on the Department of Energy’s Nonproliferation Programs with Russia, 1/10/01]

The Cost of 22 Days in Iraq Could Safeguard Our Nation’s Ports from Attack. The Coast Guard has estimated that $7.5 billion over ten years would be necessary to implement the requirements of the 2002 Maritime Transportation Safety Act, which would protect U.S. ports and waterways from terrorist threats. [Center for American Progress, 7/1/04]

The Cost of 18 Hours in Iraq Could Secure U.S. Chemical Plants. According to the CBO, it would cost $255 million over five years to fully fund the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. [CBO, 6/26/06]

There's a lot more

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Teaching Boys and Girls Separately

I cant help it. Whenever I read anything about segregating by sex, I want to hit something. There is only one area I would be indifferent to such segregation and that's sports, only because I know there was no way I could have played water polo against high school boys, then again, that's just me.

Are their differences between girls and boys, men and women? Of course, but that doesn't mean that those differences are more important than our similarities. This article uses such example as girls ability to hear and smell better. So what? Basically all I got from this article is plain old gender sterotyping

On that November day in Foley, Ala., William Bender pulled a stool up to a lectern and began reading to his fourth-grade boys from Gary Paulsen’s young-adult novel “Hatchet.” Bender’s voice is deep and calm, a balm to many of his students who lack father figures or else have parents who, Bender says, “don’t want to be parents. They want to be their kids’ friends.” Bender paused to ask one of his boys, who said he was feeling sick, “Are you going to make it, brother?” Then he kept reading. “ ‘The pain in his forehead seemed to be abating. . . .’ What’s abating, gentlemen?” The protagonist of “Hatchet” survives a plane crash and finds himself alone by an insect-infested lake. Bender encouraged his boys to empathize. They discussed how annoying it is, when you’re out hunting, to be swarmed by yellow flies.

Meanwhile, in Michelle Gay’s fourth-grade class, the girls sang a vigorous rendition of “Always Sisters” and then did a tidy science experiment: pouring red water, blue oil and clear syrup into a plastic cup to test which has the greatest density, then confirming their results with the firsthand knowledge that when you’re doing the dishes after your mother makes fried chicken, the oil always settles on top of the water in the sink.

I don't have enough room to put up all the stupid generalizations in this article, this is just the first one that really pissed me off.

The following is my rant on singe sex education;

We do not live in a single sex world. How are we preparing our children to deal with the world we live in when they have only dealt with the SAME KIND OF PEOPLE. You can say that girls will have the more self esteem when they go to an all girls school, but does that mean she is prepared for the bullshit she will deal with when she hits the real world. By separating by sex you 1) put way too much emphasis on the differences, which I think is dangerous 2) you make having to deal with real world sex integration come later in life 3) Gender stereotypes become rampant and not everyone identifies with gender roles ( i sure as hell don't).

Education is not only about content standards. We are educating our children to not only to be competent intellectually, but socially as well. Learning how to talk with each other, form alliances, agree to disagree and make compromises is very important when the majority of your life is in the presence of the opposite sex. I never regret an education that involved boys, to me it only made me work harder to disprove myths about my intelligence. How are we ever to achieve equality if we, from the beginning, teach our children that the differences between us are so great they have to be separated to learn? What does that do about differences between us in other aspects? Already our schools are segregated by class, which in turn segregates us based on race and ethnicity. In addition, reducing the way someone thinks to their having a penis or a vagina is clearly ridiculous, stereotypical and dangerous.

The evidence that single sex education was working, to me, could be implemented in any coed education and bring the same results 1) 26 kids in one class? Yes, please! Also there was one piece where a teacher was working with only 9 boys! 2) a sense of self worth and knowing someone cares about you 3) Parents who give a shit 4) a curriculum that seems to based on a well rounded child than a test.

Seriously, WTF!?

We Scream, We Swoon. How Dumb Can We Get?

"Women 'Falling for Obama,' " the story's headline read. Elsewhere around the country, women were falling for the presidential candidate literally. Connecticut radio talk show host Jim Vicevich has counted five separate instances in which women fainted at Obama rallies since last September. And I thought such fainting was supposed to be a relic of the sexist past, when patriarchs forced their wives and daughters to lace themselves into corsets that cut off their oxygen.

I can't help it, but reading about such episodes of screaming, gushing and swooning makes me wonder whether women -- I should say, "we women," of course -- aren't the weaker sex after all. Or even the stupid sex, our brains permanently occluded by random emotions, psychosomatic flailings and distraction by the superficial. Women "are only children of a larger growth," wrote the 18th-century Earl of Chesterfield. Could he have been right?

I am beyond insulted. I am the first to admit that I am a highly emotional creature, but to relate that to being dumb? This is exactly the same stereotype that continues to keep women out of male dominated interest and careers. I read "Eat, Pray, Love" and really enjoyed it, but I also love organic chemistry and generally dislike small children. All I can say is Fuck You Charlotte Allen!

So I don't understand why more women don't relax, enjoy the innate abilities most of us possess (as well as the ones fewer of us possess) and revel in the things most important to life at which nearly all of us excel: tenderness toward children and men and the weak and the ability to make a house a home. (Even I, who inherited my interior-decorating skills from my Bronx Irish paternal grandmother, whose idea of upgrading the living-room sofa was to throw a blanket over it, can make a house a home.) Then we could shriek and swoon and gossip and read chick lit to our hearts' content and not mind the fact that way down deep, we are . . . kind of dim.

A couple weeks ago, a guy approched me in a bar. He started talking to me, and being the friendly person I am, I answered his questions. While talking, I noticed what was on the TV, the news was talking about how astronomers had found a solar system similar to ours. I mentioned to the guy I had read an article on that, and how neat I thought it was. I turned my head to involve a friend of mine in the conversation, and when I turned back, maybe seconds later, the dude was gone. In my reading, I have learned that some girls try to seem "dumber" than they really are to get a man. In my case, I felt pretty kick ass. Besides, if you find a girl talking science lame, you are definitely not the guy for me.

What has happened to our media, that this type of bullshit is allowed to be published? We may have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

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I'm back! It was a very difficult week, having internet service once for only 10 minutes, waking up at 5 am everyday to travel in manageable traffic, and at one point, a dead cell phone battery. I was in LA taking a week long teacher training class. Once I turn in all my paperwork, I will become a substitute teacher for LA Unified School District. The most common response to this is "Are you crazy!?" Maybe, and after hearing this often, I began to doubt myself (as usual). But after meeting some amazing people in my class and what I learned inside and outside the classroom, I'm feeling much better about my decision.

On Wednesday, I had to observe at a school the program picked for me due to its proximity to where I was staying. Since I want to teach secondary, I was sent to a middle school. With Google map directions in hand, I set out for an unknown area of LA. I got lost multiple times, and during this time, I passed a sign that said Lincoln Heights. A chill ran down my spine. My mother is from Lincoln Heights.

I finally found the school, parked and took in my surroundings. Lets just say the area is very different from the comfortable suburban living I am used to. Having never been in the area, and also utterly confused by the way LA names its geographical areas, I didn't really know if I was still in Lincoln Heights. With only one battery bar on my phone, I figured Id call my mom later to tell her where I ended up. I tried to read the newspaper (I was early) but something was bothering me. I gave into my urge to text my mother, thinking that maybe she remembered where the school was.

Thirty five years later, I returned to the same middle school my mother and her six brothers attended. At that moment, when I read my mother's response to my text , the fear and doubt I felt, although still strong today, morphed into a purpose. Ive always known that my mother did not enjoy the same carefree childhood I had, or the opportunities I take for granted. And there I was, full circle. The need in these schools is great and because of stigma (and fact) schools represented by the majority of LAUSD are seen as scary. Don't get me wrong, I'm still scared to death, and if any of these kids are anything like my mother, as I'm sure they are, Ill have my hands full. My grandmother told me that she was once called to the middle school to pick up my mother. My mom had told another student she was going to beat them up after school. Checking this story with my mom, she admitted that she really was going to beat her up.

My point is this; I have struggled for years over where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to do with my degree. Even while going to school for my credential, I have doubted that I'm capable of being a good teacher and that I might be better off doing something else. I wont say that this doubt has left completely, but after spending the day at Florence Nightingale Middle School, I feel, regardless of my insecurity, that my life is falling into place just as it should.

Pic is of my mom and I at Bryce Canyon National Park, UT- It's my favorite picture of us

George Schaller's Grand Plan to Save the Marco Polo Sheep

An interview with George Schaller, a field and conservation biologist

Some of my favorite parts:

Has any animal gained a special hold on your affections?
When you are near a mountain gorilla, you recognize it as kin. You feel as though you might put your arm around it and have a chat. When I first saw a gorilla, I felt a desire to communicate with him, to let him know that I intended him no harm and only wanted to be near him. And I wondered if he shared this feeling of kinship with me. Never before had I had that feeling meeting an animal. You don’t get that feeling when you see a tiger, but your mind almost glows with the sight—they’re absolutely gorgeous—and to see a tiger is one of the great wildlife experiences. I can also get enamored of capybaras, which are giant rodents and look like big guinea pigs, and even wild pigs. I have had two kinds of pig, a warthog and a white-lipped peccary, as pets. They are just as intelligent and social as dogs. I have an attachment to all the animals I’ve studied and keep involved in what’s happening with them. Emotionally, they cannot leave me.

A lot of the conservation news seems very grim these days. How do you keep going in moments of discouragement?
I don’t get up each morning and say, “I’ve got to save the world, starting with the United States government.” I have very specific projects, where I can see progress. And that keeps you going because, in a small way, I see that I can have an influence. And especially if you teach others, and have students and assistants to work with, and can find a way they can continue the work—that’s satisfying.

What about steps we can take right here in the United States?
We have an overabundance of everything. I’ve got two cars sitting in the garage. People must understand that everything they do is an ecological act. How much does it cost to bring grapes here from Chile (pdf)? Not just the grapes, but the fuel spent in carbon emission? If you have a cup of coffee, that means some rain forest in Colombia is being cut down to make coffee plantations. Do you have a cell phone? OK, inside it there’s a mineral called coltan, mined mostly in the eastern Congo by a lot of the Rwandans who fled after the genocide, and they’re living in the forest, and they’re killing gorillas and elephants for meat because they don’t have much else to eat. I’ve got two lights on in here. [Gets up and turns off a light.] I don’t need two lights on in here! You know, this is endless

You’ve said that there are no final victories in conservation.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a good example. It’s been a continual battle since the 1970s to keep the oil companies out. We claim to be the richest, most educated country in the world, and we can’t keep one little fraction undamaged? You think you have something, and the minute you look away, somebody is trying to destroy it. Look at what has happened recently with tigers, which were safe in a number of reserves. Almost overnight, they were completely wiped out of several places, because, suddenly, there was a demand for skins. When something is so beautiful and valuable, you can never turn your back.

Read the whole interview


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This pissed me off

Whether you acknowledge it or not, there’s good reason to worry. By the time 35th-birthday-brunch celebrations roll around for still-single women, serious, irreversible life issues masquerading as “jokes” creep into public conversation: Well, I don’t feel old, but my eggs sure do! or Maybe this year I’ll marry Todd. I’m not getting any younger! The birthday girl smiles a bit too widely as she delivers these lines, and everyone laughs a little too hard for a little too long, not because we find these sentiments funny, but because we’re awkwardly acknowledging how unfunny they are. At their core, they pose one of the most complicated, painful, and pervasive dilemmas many single women are forced to grapple with nowadays: Is it better to be alone, or to settle?

My advice is this: Settle! That’s right. Don’t worry about passion or intense connection. Don’t nix a guy based on his annoying habit of yelling “Bravo!” in movie theaters. Overlook his halitosis or abysmal sense of aesthetics. Because if you want to have the infrastructure in place to have a family, settling is the way to go. Based on my observations, in fact, settling will probably make you happier in the long run, since many of those who marry with great expectations become more disillusioned with each passing year. (It’s hard to maintain that level of zing when the conversation morphs into discussions about who’s changing the diapers or balancing the checkbook.)

Read the rest of Marry Him!

I think its better to be "alone". At this age, I have no desire to marry or have children. The reasons being that I want to do my own shit and not have to take care of anyone else. Is that selfish? It depends on how you look at it. From my view, its not selfish at all, but being honest with my emotional limitations and the goals I have for myself. If you look at it from a traditional view point, that is, getting married and having a family is the highest aspiration for a women, then yeah, Im an emotional mutant. What pisses me off so much about this article is that it 1) assumes women's happiness is found only in having a family 2) that we are a bunch of manipulative animals that only want a husband because of "business" purposes. If you're willing to settle for someone integral to your happiness, what does it say about the quality of the rest of your life. As I get older, I assume my needs from a man will be different than what I look for now, but Im definitely not settling so Im not "alone". Besides, Ill never really be "alone", Ill always have family and friends. And since settling in this article suggests that you probably wont have sex anyways (marriage = celibacy) why does it matter if all my future relationships are platonic? And if I want a baby, there are plenty of wonderful children who are just waiting to be adopted, no sperm needed. I think this article is also insulting to men. Not all men are bad or terribly flawed and Im sure they don't want to feel like prey. If they felt this way towards me Id feel rather defeated and resist at first mention of it. I dream of finding love just as much as the next person, and have no doubt that its in my future, but I refuse to lower my expectations in order to get married. I have better things to do if its been reduced to running a business.

Here is an article in response to Marry Him! The Latest Insult to Women: "Settle for Mr. Good Enough"

A Global Journey, Relying on Kindness and a Donkey

JONATHAN DUNHAM is walking the earth. Assisting him in this endeavor is his donkey, named Judas. They have stopped to rest for a few days in Colinas de San Lorenzo, a slum in this dusty town on the cattle-raising plains of northwestern Venezuela.

On a recent Sunday morning, reggaetón blared from a house near the abandoned shack where Mr. Dunham has been sleeping on the floor. Barefoot children wandered up to his hovel, petting Judas. They giggled and stared at Mr. Dunham, 33, whose disheveled look evokes that of a graduate student for whom surfing, or maybe foosball, is high art.

“Are you an athlete?” one of the children asked him. “Or a missionary?”

“No,” Mr. Dunham replied. “I’m just a guy.”

In fact, Mr. Dunham is just a guy searching for the meaning of life.

His quest began more than two years ago in Portland, Ore., where he was working as a substitute teacher in the public schools. One day, he decided to start walking south, down through the western United States. From Texas he crossed the border into the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where he stopped for a while. He said he hoped to walk for two more years across the rest of South America until reaching Patagonia.

Read More

I have always been intrigued by wanderers. Maybe cause deep down Ive always wanted to be one. But I think my wanderlust would be better satisfied if I was working, maybe in a clinic or school. Ill never get rid of the mother hen do gooder in me.

President Bush's Africa plan doesn't acknowledge that often it's husbands who infect wives.

Religious groups are fixated on the need to stop HIV transmission through premarital and extramarital sex, but what's killing African women by the millions is http:///unprotected sex with their husbands. Yet the United States spends more on promoting abstinence and fidelity programs ($198 million in fiscal 2007) than on promoting condom use ($147 million in 2007). Roughly 10 million African girls under the age of 18 are married each year, many to older men who seek HIV-free brides. To those wedded to HIV-positive men, marriage often means a death sentence. They have little power to control their husbands' condom use or extramarital behavior; they are more likely than young men to contract HIV; and those who know they're infected and do not want to bear children often have no access to contraception.

By providing life-saving drugs to HIV-positive pregnant women, the president's program claims to have prevented 157,000 infants from becoming infected. This is a huge accomplishment. What the U.S. funding hasn't done is reduce unwanted pregnancies. In a clinic in Uganda where pregnant HIV-positive women were receiving anti-retroviral treatment, 93% reported that their pregnancies were unintended. It's no surprise that many HIV-positive women do not wish to bear children whom they might infect with the virus or leave orphaned. It's cruel to deny contraception to such poor and sick women should they desire it. And as a public health matter, it's far cheaper to prevent unwanted pregnancies than to prevent mother-child HIV transmission. Yet U.S. funding for family planning has flat-lined.

Hmmm

The state decides, that now, during a budget crisis, they want to increase graduation rates

The incoming leader of the state Senate said Thursday that he wants to overhaul California's programs for reducing the number of high school dropouts, calling it a top legislative priority.

Under existing requirements, Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles would be allowed to take more than two centuries to bring its graduation rate up to 82.9%, which is the current state standard, said Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).

Steinberg, who will take over as Senate president pro tem in November, has drafted a bill that would reset the bar for schools in California to boost the number of students who make it to graduation.

"We think 250 years is slightly too long," he said. "It's unacceptable. The current goal, to put it charitably, is not nearly ambitious enough."

The idea of setting higher graduation goals is supported by many education experts, including state Education Secretary David Long.

"There has to be that perfect balance between raising the bar and making it achievable, because school districts have a lot of other things on their plates," Long said.

However, Delaine Eastin, a former state superintendent of public instruction, said the Legislature would have to come up with more money to help schools increase their graduation rates, adding that after-school and preschool programs are important elements.

"They are going to have to make some investment. It's not easy, and it's not free," she said.

Just yesterday I posted and article about how California schools districts were going to lose a lot of money due to budget cuts, even to the point that they are closing schools and laying off teachers. So, to me, this means, overcrowding, less time for one on one instruction and more students falling through the cracks. And now they want to increase the graduation rate. Ha!! Good luck with that. I am heading into a nightmare, but I can't wait till I can raise some hell.

Gray Wolves to lose endangered status

My favorite part:

All three Rocky Mountain states were required to submit wolf management plans for a delisted population before Thursday's announcement, and they have agreed to maintain a minimum population of about 150 wolves per state. Ed Bangs, Fish and Wildlife's wolf recovery coordinator, who headed the reintroduction effort, predicted that the regional population would not fall below 900 to 1,200 wolves.

"It's a pretty good feeling to know this final part of this recovery project is happening, and the future conservation of wolves is secure in state hands," he said.

In Wyoming, the state Game and Fish Department will maintain at least seven breeding pairs, or half the current number, outside Yellowstone National Park, Bangs said. The term "breeding pair" refers to a successfully reproducing wolf pack; a pack usually includes about 14 animals, he said.

The Wyoming plan classifies some wolf populations as "trophy game animals," subject to certain rules including kill limits, and others are deemed "predatory," allowing wolves "to be taken at any time by anybody," said Eric Keszler, a spokesman for the Game and Fish Department. This includes methods such as baiting and aerial shooting, he said.

Im so tired of this bullshit. 1) This is not a celebratory moment like it should be. There are obvious problems, in the end the wolves loose once again. Heres an interesting article about the "wildness" of Yellowstone which is relevant to the plight of grey wolves 2) I highly doubt the livestock they do end up eating is all that significant that it warrants them to be killed in large numbers 3) who the fuck hunts wolves anymore! 4) Nature has a way of controlling itself. If the population were to boom, it would thin out because there would not be enough prey, livestock is hardly a logical option. Also, reducing numbers leads to the reduction of genetic diversity, and we all know how I feel about that 5) Im all for taking the wolves off the endangered species list, but it seems really stupid to let them be killed again within limits. This plan was not thought out very well and it sounds like the forestry dept doesn't really care either.

How great is this!?

Fuck, all this time waiting and now this:

California's schools brace for sweeping layoffs

So this is the new home of my blog. For a good laugh, read my old entries!

Some interesting finds:

Check out Cheers and Jeers: Thursday at Daily Kos for a Liberal Manifesto!

Also, a new cartoon at Mark Fiore's site called Doreen the Downer
I highly doubt the Chino slaughterhouse is an isolated incident.

From CNN Money:

"Power generation takes water. Pumping water takes power. As the nation struggles to meet electricity demand - expected to surge 50% in the next 30 years - big sections of the country are suffering from drought conditions.

"We're going to have both water and power shortages, maybe in areas where we aren't used to them," said Peter Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute, an environmental research organization. "Atlanta in the last few years is a good example of that."

Most people don't realize how closely power and water are linked.

In California, the water pumps that keep the Los Angeles area hydrated are the single largest users of power in the state, according to Gleick. Running a hot water faucet there for five minutes uses as much energy as keeping a 60-watt light bulb on for 14 hours, he said."

I often struggle with why information like this is not reported in such detail, it starts to remind me of the local news when it rains in Southern California. How is it that we know more about Britney Spears then of where our energy, food and products come from and the cost we are really paying for them? How do we change this? I get tired just thinking about it, for my idealist views are never really going to be mainstream.

Ok, today is the day I really start trying to work on this blog. Myspace, although rather addictive, is getting old, at least for my purposes. So, to commemorate the holiday ( one I thoroughly disagree with) here is a cute YouTube clip



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