Is it Friday yet?

My god today seemed like Friday.  This week Friday is Wednesday.  But whatever.  One more day.

I gave my first class a practice final test.  They all did well and were quite happy leading into their next class (this would change later).

With my second class, I thought I would try something fun.  This group doesn’t get fun unless you strong arm them into it.  We are starting a unit on art and I set up one computer for them to take turns typing in their personal definitions of “what is art” although I had to stop some of them from just copying dictionary.com or wiki definitions.  The other part of their assignment was to find an example of art on the Internet — it could be anything.  While this took a little coaxing — in the end it paid off.  Each student got to show their choice, explain why s/he liked it and explain why that choice was art.  Then I passed out copies of the definition doc they had made and asked them to try to come up with a consensus.  It worked for the last three minutes, and then class was over.

My last class is writing.  Most of them are very good about being self-motivated.  I also used the time to point out who had and had not completed assignments.  Perhaps the slackers will catch up over the long weekend.  They are, for the most part, a very good class.

The afternoon was hellish.  I worked, but it was not pleasant.  One of my colleagues decided that he wanted to use me to bolster his critique of another colleague.  I don’t play that way.  When I told him that, he insisted that I know how he is; he just likes to argue about grammar.   I told him I knew nothing of the kind.  This surprised him.  I’ve been around long enough to know that students will try to break a teacher they perceive as weak and I will not participate in that.  I’ve had a senior teacher do that to me and it is not pleasant.  It hasn’t happened again — mostly because I raised a stink about and also because I have never ever done that to another teacher.   I take it so far as to make a point when I teach passive voice: once the students learn it, they are capable of using, “I was told” and leave me out of it.  It’s not like all grammar points are agreed upon by all grammar teachers.

The credit card thing is on PBS now.  I’m going to watch it and maybe post more.  I don’t know.

Is it Friday yet?

“At risk to my political future”

That’s what Kay Bailey Hutchison says in her ad for why she should be governor.  She’s staying in the Senate for now– a term for which she promised not to run in the first place — and risking her political career — at age 66.  (I remember when I was asked to evaluate another teacher at work and didn’t give her perfect marks — she didn’t earn them — and then she hauled me into the director’s office to complain that it would look bad on her resume — she was Hutchison’s same age.  It’s sad that they both had/have so little to hang onto.)

Things seem to be falling into place.  Hutchison stays in the Senate to keep Perry from appointing a successor (oh wait, to fight health insurance reform) and so Bill White can shift his ambiguous campaign online and elsewhere to the governor’s race.  Oh yeah, Bush’s friend up in For Worth bowed out.  I read earlier that one of my all time favorite lawmakers — Garnet Coleman — supported the Ft. Worth guy, but I forgive him.  No matter what a great guy he might be — there is no way Dems in Texas will elect someone associated in such an intimate way with W.

In my happy place — we get Annice Parker and Ron Green in to run the city; Bill White the run the state, along with Radnofsky at Attorney General, and while Hutchison may end up serving her term in the Senate — we will have someone to run for her seat successfully out of one of them.

Emancipation Proclamation, Subjugation Proclamation, It’s all the Same, Right?

Periodic fat man and talk radio liar Chris Baker is at it again.  No, he’s not advocating shooting anyone this time, but he is trying to equate being fat with being black.

For all of the poor rubes in Houston who listen to his talk show fron 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon, he seems to be here physically, but he’s not.  He’s up in Minneapolis stinking up the morning air.  I’m still wondering when the local radio follower types will call him out on it.

But back to the point at hand.  Today (as he has for a while) Baker tried to equate health insurance legislation with slavery.  The example he used was if your kid were fat, then under the new law that doesn’t yet exist, you would get in trouble with the law.  Or something.

I have a solution to Baker’s listeners dilemma if they should come face to face with the guns of the law over their fat kid:  get liposuction.  Preferably on teevee.  Just like Chris Baker did back in the day.  Now, you must understand that it’s not a permanent solution.  Baker got fat again.

And, you know, being fat is just like being black.

Nobody’s Married in Texas

Our lovely culture warriors have struck the stupid post again it seems.  Barbara Ann Radnofsky, who ran against Kay Bailey Hutchison for Senator the time Hutchison had promised she wouldn’t run, is now running for Texas Attorney General and she has looked into the silly amendment to the Texas Constitution passed in 2005 and is pointing out how silly it is.  Via McClatchy:

The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that “marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.” But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

Architects of the amendment included the clause to ban same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. But Radnofsky, who was a member of the powerhouse Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston for 27 years until retiring in 2006, says the wording of Subsection B effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas,” including common-law marriages.

She calls it a “massive mistake” and blames the current attorney general, Republican Greg Abbott, for allowing the language to become part of the Texas Constitution. Radnofsky called on Abbott to acknowledge the wording as an error and consider an apology. She also said that another constitutional amendment may be necessary to reverse the problem.

To me, this looks like over-reach on the part of the American Taliban.  It’s also a good stick to poke at them in the debates that will proceed the vote next year.

I remember going out into the parking lot at work and finding a couple of guys putting flyers on cars about the amendment back then.  I easily ran them off even though they could have proclaimed their right to be there.  They were just lackies for the people paying their checks.  These same people were asleep at the beginning of the Houston mayor’s race and have only woken up because Annice Parker made such a good show.  First they trashed their only possible candidate for losing, after having done nothing for him.  Then they have attacked the person they underestimated — through their fault only.  They are simple-minded and short-sighted as well.

I’m proud that Radnofsky is already out there working for the office she seeks.  She’s more than qualified and this is a good start.

Fighting Cats, Dog Pack, Fighting Cats, AGAIN

After a tranquil afternoon working in the backyard with sleepy Junebug and Harry lazily watching me, this evening was a nightmare.

It started with Tammy and Murphy going nuts in the front yard.  I knew it was nothing serious by Tammy’s yippy bark.  Inside, Dora went bezerk.  I went outside and found Braveheart and a black and white cat hissing at each other across the driveway from the pups.   They both ran up the neighbor’s driveway at the sight of me, and while I tried to call Braveheart back home, I couldn’t get him to come.  When I came back up our driveway, June and Harry were there — swimming and rolling around together.  I figured if Junebug wasn’t afraid, then everything was ok.

(June has this pseudo-polyandry thing going — each of the boys — Braveheart, Sad Grey & White Kitty, and Harry all love her, but they only tolerate each other.)

After settling Dora down and having about 20 minutes of peace and quiet, Tammy and Murphy started up again, but this time it was angry.  At that point Dora cranked up the decibels exponentially. I looked out the side door and saw two dogs in the street.  I went around to the front yard with the pups and saw as many as eight dogs coming down the street.  I yelled at them and then whistled very loudly at them.  That chased them down the street.  After running a reluctant Dora into the bedroom, I checked the driveway and backyard, and thankfully there were no kittens in sight.  I returned to the front yard and waited for a while to see if the pack might come back.  They didn’t.  Dora was still barking.

Another brief calm ensued but didn’t last long.  Tammy started up her yippy bark joined by Murphy, and I was back out in the driveway, only to find Sad Grey & White Kitty hissing at the same black and white cat.  Luckily, this time I was able to chase the former back toward the house and the later away across the street.  All the while, Dora was probably barking loud enough to break the law.

By this time, I’d had it.  I put the pups in one bedroom and Dora in the other with the lights off and closed the doors.  BEDTIME FOR PUPS.  ASPIRIN TIME FOR MOM.

Chase Again

Don’t ask me why I return to him again and again.

 

More Missionaries

Cal Thomas was on my radio this morning begging for money.  He says that he knows times are tough, but please give him some money anyway.  Just think of him as the missionary to the media.

Many years ago, I went to Latvia to teach English.  I got a job with a nonprofit.  I bought all of my own supplies and even took a good number of supplies to leave with the teachers there.  While I was there, I took my meager resources and bought class sets of books for the little school where I taught.  Computer access was limited and the school I worked at had no copier.  I was fortunate enough to be able to use other nonprofits’ computers and paid for copies I made for students myself.  I worked two other jobs in addition to my nonprofit job in order to pay for all of this.  I went into debt.  I never asked another person for money — ever.

After I came back, one of my brother’s friends from junior high and high school decided he wanted to be a missionary.  He sent everyone he knew letters begging for them to give him money for a missionary trip to — get this — Prague.  He needed a computer.   He needed a car.  He needed a nice place to stay.  He needed clothes.  All so he could go to Prague.

I guess he got enough money to get by.  After he returned from Prague, he went to work for Tom Craddick.  And that’s one way the missionary wheel turns.  I’m sure there are others.

One example could be the Saturday revelation that the Christians have decided that someone can’t be mayor of our city because she is a lesbian.  They worry about “the gays” taking over city hall.”  I am so very tired of these people.  Never mind that Annice Parker has a track record with our city of service — very good service.  And never mind that these same people failed to support their candidate during the regular election (they trashed their candidate instead the day after).

I’m no missionary, but I think you guys are doing it wrong.

KSEV in the morning

Sorry Bill Bennett, I will be listening to see if the justice department calls back.  Last Friday, Benttoncourt and party of no decided to call the justice department after hours and were surprised to find someone there. They were polite and helpful.

The trials of KSM will happen and everyone involved is manning up.  Those opposed are wilting.  (See R.G. from NYC on the morning shows.)

Special EDD Hendee gets to wring this out for the man.  I’ll be listening!  Which is the point.  What will Bennett do to top Hendee?  Appear in Houston?  Wait.

Cheney, Palin, and Bennett in Texas in one week?  Do they think this is a red state or what?

I have a plan!!!!!

It’s taken me long enough, but I now have a plan for the front yard, back yard and house.

Now it’s just a matter of materials and scheduling.

I’ve decided to nix the St. Augustine left in the front yard and go for morning glories on one side and wisteria on the other.  I’m thinking of cementing the street side of the ditch and planting Mexican Heather on the sidewalk side.  The front yard will get the most native ground cover I can find, and mulch will replace the raw dirt.

In the back yard, I will prepare it for raised beds for vegetables.  Cinder blocks for the first level and then cedar for the rest.  I want to get the garage area opened up and make it a place for coffee in the morning and grilling in the afternoon.

Inside, I want to get the columns installed and the living room painted.  Then on to fixing the cracks from the leveling and eventually remodeling the bathroom.

DETAILS!

And posted without one single stolen picture.  (I find that right wingers tend to think it is ok to steal the work of others.  They have no idea of the value of work or talent.)

Wingnutty-good, along with some fem on fem rants

Well it looks like both Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney will be in the Lone Star state next week.  Palin will be selling her book to people at Fort Hood (and perhaps appear with Rick Perry?), and Cheney will be stumping raising money for Kay Baily Hutchison.  (I’ll have to think of something to do to counter-act all that bad karma in one week.)

And speaking of Hutchison, why does everyone (Natalie Arceneaoux) relentlessly call her by her first name?  Is it because of Hillary?  And does anyone know whether or not it has been a bad idea for Bill White to show up in ads on every website I visit because NOW Hutchison says she will stay in her seat (that she promised not to run for and we should have Barb Radnovsky in at this point)?

I know it’s already old news, but I have always said that women are women’s worst enemies.  If you think men have been keeping a sister down, you have no idea.  Sure, men do their part, but there is nothing compared to the weight given to a woman’s complaint about another woman.  And there is no one who can cut down a woman more effectively than another woman — what I would call playing to the other side — but hey, if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.  (And that sentiment goes for everything in life — financial stuff, business, work, everything.  Prove me wrong if you disagree.  Humans have no shame.)

Back to my point.  Palin says she gave Couric the crazy interview ahe did because she wanted to boost Couric’s self-esteem.  Hutchison is playing to stereotype.

This all exasperates me.

Then there is Annice Parker.  She has a family.  She has been elected 6 times in Houston elections.  She doesn’t hide who she is.  She looked like she wouldn’t get very much support in the mayoral election.  She didn’t have as much money as other candidates.  She’s not part of the Lanier people.

Today — well it’s been there since the wingnuts have been trashing (Edd Hendee called him a jackass — on the CHRISTIAN AIRWAVES REPEATEDLY)  their nominal candidate, Roy Morales, the day after the election.  Dan Patrick and Paul Bettencourt (aka quitter) are teaming up with the religious wingnuts to whip up the AMERICAN TALIBAN to defeat Parker — not because of her views or policies or past record — she is a LESBIAN. It’s also not because they want any black people in their party.  It’s just all they are left with and when choosing between bad choices, well a black man — who supports giving same sex benefits to city employees — is better than the gays taking over.  It’s just another variation of what has always gone on here in Houston.  Divide and conquer!  Except this time the AMERICAN TALIBAN are playing catch-up.

It might be time for me to do something about this.  I’m not a joiner type of person, but this might be the line for me.  I’ll think about it and decide tomorrow.

Added later — Oprah does the same thing.  The teasers about her interview with Palin include “everybody wants to know about Levi.”  Bitch.  Didn’t she launch that doctor show that pushed Jeopardy to late night?  Bitch.