Thursday, October 30, 2008
Too sad to get angry about
So here we are down to the wire and my guys are ahead, which means that the conservative machine is getting more shrill and slanderous. Now these jerks have come up with so called evidence that Barak's birth certificate is not legitimate, among other lies. These people that email this kind of idiocy around never once stop to think that if any of this was true, that their own conservative journalists (the ones who are true intellects like George Will) would have uncovered this a long time ago. They never stop to ponder why David Brooks, Peggy Noonan, George Will, Chris Buckley, Colin Powell and the list of thinking conservatives goes on -- endorse Obama. They never question why this kind of evil blather comes from the other side, while the mainstream and the Democrats refrain from these kinds of slanderous lies and attacks. I'm on a lot of liberal list servs and never do I get this kind of nonsense from my side. Rather, these folks who will not hear, nor thoughtfully consider these facts, listen to the likes of Hannity and Limbaugh and worse. These are propogandists. And, once again, a chilling thought occurs to me. I am living through what probably happened in pre-WW II Germany. The parallels are eerie. My fervent prayer is that the thinking conservatives can help to purge their side of these dangerous loonies. They make me very, very afraid for our country. Over and out.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Racism
A commentary on the subject of racism in this election........
Interesting perspective on Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?
What if the Obama's had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?
What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?
What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severely disfiguring car accident ?
What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?
What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became add icted to painkillers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)
What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
What if Obama had trouble reading from a Teleprompter?
What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?
What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?
What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?
What if the Obama's adopted a white child?
You could easily add to this list. Would the election pol l numbers be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It distorts, rationalizes, and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
Educational Background: Barack Obama:Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.Harvard - Jurist Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude.
Joseph Biden:University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.Syracuse University College of Law - Jurist Doctor (J.D.)
Vs. John McCain:United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Sarah Palin:Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semesterNorth Idaho - 2 semesters – JournalismMatanuska-Susitna College - B.A. in Journalism
Interesting perspective on Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin, what if things were switched around?
What if the Obama's had paraded five children across the stage, including a three month old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?
What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?
What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain had only married once and Obama was a divorcee?
What if Obama was the candidate who left his first wife after a severely disfiguring car accident ?
What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?
What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became add icted to painkillers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?
What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?
What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.)
What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?
What if Obama had trouble reading from a Teleprompter?
What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?
What if Obama was the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?
What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?
What if the Obama's adopted a white child?
You could easily add to this list. Would the election pol l numbers be as close as they are?
This is what racism does. It distorts, rationalizes, and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.
Educational Background: Barack Obama:Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.Harvard - Jurist Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude.
Joseph Biden:University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.Syracuse University College of Law - Jurist Doctor (J.D.)
Vs. John McCain:United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Sarah Palin:Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semesterNorth Idaho - 2 semesters – JournalismMatanuska-Susitna College - B.A. in Journalism
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Twins
So, these are the twins. Are they not adorable? Such happy little peanuts!
I am having so much fun with all of the grandkids, much more than I did with the kids; although I had a ball with my kids. I reflect on why we have so much fun with grandbabies and have decided there are a few reasons besides the usual things that people say (i.e. you can give them back). I think there are primarily 2 reasons. One is that I never had the kind of relaxed time that I have the luxury of now. When the kids were little, I had no household help, no money, and Brian was away all the time. Occasionally, I would work a day or so. Now, I have TIME to enjoy every delicious second. And everything I observe is CUTE. Even when they throw up on me.
The second is that I have age -- and that has taught me what is truly important in life and that every second is precious. I think I always had my priorities straight, but they get straighter with age! I love this grandparent thing.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Enough is enough, professors fight back
Over my years of teaching I have noted a gross incivility from students toward professors. This seems to be particularly prevalent under two sets of circumstances: 1) online classes, 2) foreign students from SubSahara Africa. The two seem to have a greater effect than one alone. Students in class face to face do not dare to be uncivil to me more than one time, because they simply get tossed out or I call security. This has not happened in a long time as I teach grad students, the classes are small, and most of my grad students think I walk on water. Undergraduate students were different. But I could control them with a whithering look for the most part.
The last 5 years has seen an influx of these SubSaharan immigrants to my universities graduate programs and the incivility, rudeness, and entitlement is unbelievable. Some of them, when brought before the dean, try to explain it away as cultural and that the professor is the one who is arrogant. Hey, ya know what, if you're in my culture (the US) you learn how to act in my culture and you know that the proper role here is me - professor and you - student. Not that respect shouldn't flow both ways. When I go to Liberia or Nigeria, I will be as subserviant to you princesses as the culture demands.
My African American colleagues have noted this behavior as well, and it drives them crazy; only they say that actually the behavior is intensified because they perceive that the SubSaharans think that they are better than US blacks.
One of my students complained to the dean that my posting my CV on the first day of class by way of introduction in my online advanced psychopharmacology was an example of MY arrogance. Only this group sees it this way, regardless it is not an excuse for the way that they treat us.
Today, one of my colleagues, who has had it with these students, suggested that we start bringing the students up to the Student Affairs committee to censure on grounds of incivility. His is a grand suggestion and I am going to start doing this. It is high time that it got around the student community that this behavior will not be tolerated, and since I have several nasty emails in my inbox right now, I'm ready to go. Stay tuned for the results! It is time faculty stood up for themselves and sent a message to their colleagues, as well as to students.
The last 5 years has seen an influx of these SubSaharan immigrants to my universities graduate programs and the incivility, rudeness, and entitlement is unbelievable. Some of them, when brought before the dean, try to explain it away as cultural and that the professor is the one who is arrogant. Hey, ya know what, if you're in my culture (the US) you learn how to act in my culture and you know that the proper role here is me - professor and you - student. Not that respect shouldn't flow both ways. When I go to Liberia or Nigeria, I will be as subserviant to you princesses as the culture demands.
My African American colleagues have noted this behavior as well, and it drives them crazy; only they say that actually the behavior is intensified because they perceive that the SubSaharans think that they are better than US blacks.
One of my students complained to the dean that my posting my CV on the first day of class by way of introduction in my online advanced psychopharmacology was an example of MY arrogance. Only this group sees it this way, regardless it is not an excuse for the way that they treat us.
Today, one of my colleagues, who has had it with these students, suggested that we start bringing the students up to the Student Affairs committee to censure on grounds of incivility. His is a grand suggestion and I am going to start doing this. It is high time that it got around the student community that this behavior will not be tolerated, and since I have several nasty emails in my inbox right now, I'm ready to go. Stay tuned for the results! It is time faculty stood up for themselves and sent a message to their colleagues, as well as to students.
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