Friday, September 12, 2003

 
With my ranting yesterday, I came to work today to find a new editorial by Paul Krugman from The New York Times in my email box. It seems to fit exactly what I was talking about yesterday. Read it! If you want sane opinions to read that aren't the right-wing crap thrown at us everyday by the Bush administration and all of Fox News, you must read Maureen Dowd, Molly Ivins, Paul Krugman and Bob Herbert.

For some good humor there is always Al Franken's site.
posted by erica Friday, September 12, 2003 []

  Thursday, September 11, 2003

 
September 11
Two years ago. I can't believe it. Bryan and I were eating breakfast together this morning and heard Bush's comments after going to church this morning. It made me mad that every time he talks about Iraq he seems to use the attacks on September 11 as a justification. I said that I really feel bad for people who lost loved ones on September 11 because Bush has used it as an excuse for killing people who have not done anything to us except the fact that they were born in Iraq. I hate the fact that the administration feels the need to go after anyone they don't like or the administration thinks is a threat to their way of doing business. My heart sincerely goes out to the people who lost loved ones two years ago today and anyone who has lost a loved one killed in the wars we've been fighting. I don't think that using those lost on September 11 is a good enough reason to pick fights with other countries. We need to think why we are here. We aren't here to take over the world and force our beliefs on others, we're here to live in harmony and make our world a better place for our children. Creating an atmosphere like we have been recently is making our world a much scarier place for everyone. I'm sure I sound like I just want everyone to be smiling all the time and that it's unrealistic, but I think we need to stop and think about the consequences of our actions before we do anything. The war in Iraq isn't the only thing that is making our world a scarier place, we're destroying our environment and selling our health and well-being to the highest bidder. We need to stop the killing - at home and in Iraq.

If you want a happier planet - give someone a hug, smile at the next person you see or tell someone that you care. Drive less, eat better food, drink cleaner water and sleep better. I think if Bush was sleeping better and eating organic food and drinking cleaner water and he stopped to think about what who he is really hurting in this world, he might not take the actions he is planning.

I've been reading a lot lately about Bush's tax cuts, his administration's plans for the future budget and their plans for money in Iraq. I really think we need to take some of the $87 billion and invest it in our schools. Instead of giving big tax cuts, we need to take some of that money and repair the school buildings, pay teachers salaries that are decent and also think about how students really learn because forcing standardized tests on them is not helping them learn. We've become so concerned about test scores that we're not even thinking of them as little human beings. We've turned them into numbers. We don't want them to think for themselves because then they won't pass the test with a score that we want. We are always talking about thinking outside the box, but we're trying to put them in little boxes so that they fit perfectly into our idea of what kids are supposed to be. I'm learning that we want every child to fit into a perfect little package and they aren't packages, they have ideas and are creative and are bursting with energy. We're killing their creative energy with our current ways of teaching to the tests and making them into perfect little boxes. We're training them to be the perfect corporate employees who don't question anything and just do as they are told. Working for a huge corporation can also kill all of your creative energy. They encourage you to take risks, but don't take any risks that they don't approve of, it's such a double standard. If the goal is to make perfect corporate employees who don't think in creative ways or question, our current form of education is perfect for it. We worry about the moral implications of cloning, but our current form of education is creating clones who will move into the perfect corporate clone employee.
I am a product of public schools and the schools that I'm seeing today are so focused on the test scores that they don't resemble what I remember about school. It's no wonder so many kids hate school, we're not encouraging them to learn in their own ways. We want them to just follow directions and do it the way that the teacher and administrators want them to. People say they value education and think that education is the way to make it in this world, but when it comes to actually funding the schools, they don't want to pay for it. Bush has done this! He says he's going to reform the schools but funding for the schools is so low that reform can't take place. And requiring more standardized tests to make kids fit into perfect little boxes is not the way to reform the schools!


I'm fascinated with the Waldorf schools theory of teaching because it really encourages kids to think for themselves. They are schools that truly value learning and education. If you don't know anything about Waldorf schools, there is a great article in Conscious Choice, a free magazine that Bryan picks up at Whole Foods Market.

My ranting today got a bit off the subject, I had to vent today. I hope that everyone takes a bit of time to reflect on our world today and makes an attempt to make the world a better place, even if it means hugging your dog, cat or family member and telling them that you love them.
posted by erica Thursday, September 11, 2003 []

  Thursday, September 04, 2003

 
Have you seen it? The Librarian action figure?? See a photo here. I love it! I think they need a bald guy librarian action figure, just like my Library Boy!

Bryan and I saw the Magdalene Sisters. What an amazing but disturbing film. It was fascinating and I can't imagine how these women that survived the laundries lead normal lives after they got out. Since seeing the film, I've been looking for more information. I've found several things online and Bryan is tracking down the documentary that the film is based on, Sex in a Cold Climate. It's a film that you really have to see!

I just realized that I haven't posted since before we moved! Bryan and I are all moved into our "new" apartment. We've been there since July 10. The day the movers came, I found out that I survived Position Migration at work. So I got my same job back. It was hell to go through just to get the same position. It took us about two weekends to get all of my stuff moved out of my old apartment. I got rid of so many things and I'm still surprised at how much stuff I still have that I don't know where to put it. The kitties are enjoying the new place. They love to look out the patio door at all the birds, squirrels, rabbits and the dogs walking by. I've let Chloe go outside on a leash and harness. She loves rolling around in the grass and just being outside. Living with Bryan at first was a little difficult because I didn't like how he put things in the dishwasher. Thank goodness that's the extent of the difficulty! Now things are great. I love seeing him every night and having him make breakfast for me in the mornings. :) He wakes me up every morning and has to practically drag me out of bed. (I'm not a morning person.) We cook dinner together and usually have something to do in the evenings, we don't have cable so we're not watching tv. I thought I would miss the city more than I do. I love being close to Whole Foods and having a parking space close to my building every night when I go home. One of the best parts is - it's a 15-minute commute from the time I walk out my front door until the time I log-on to my computer at work.
posted by erica Thursday, September 04, 2003 []