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.