Category Archives: racism

The Native American holiday

by

Petula Dvorak has this up on the Native Americans and this holiday we celebrate.

The Native Americans I talked to said they’ve all heard of someone who doesn’t celebrate the holiday the way it’s presented in food magazines and Hallmark television specials. But all the people I talked to said they hold on to the original message that the Wampanoag had that day — a harvest feast to give thanks.

“Thanksgiving is like every day for us. Giving thanks is a big part of the native cultures. So the basic message of the holiday, that’s still part of who we are,” said Ben Norman, 32, a member of the Pamunkey tribe in Virginia.

~~~~~~~~~

And that’s what it means to me, too—being thankful for every day and every meal and all that is provided for us.

The Native Americans recognize that all is connected.  What we do over *here* affects something over *there*.  We cannot take and take and take without there being repercussions.  The traditional Native Americans humbly acknowledge that with taking only what they need.

The Europeans described America as a wilderness.  The Native Americans knew better and carefully managed the great ecosystem–you could drink from any river or stream….the fish were plentiful because they weren’t overfished and they didn’t contain mercury and other toxins…you could breathe…

They were portrayed as heathens that needed “saving” by missionaries.  Instead of trying to understand their spirituality, the Europeans sought to force their religion upon them.  Native Americans don’t have Churches where one goes to pray once a week and then forget everything that is taught…rather, they see spirituality in everything they do—everything is connected to the Creator.

I just wanted to acknowledge their culture and all that was lost.

My other posts on Native Americans here, here and here.

 

 

More adventures in gluten free cooking

by

So…there weren’t any gluten free pie crusts at the grocery, and I was going to go without pumpkin pie, my favorite at Thanksgiving.  But I just couldn’t imagine a Thanksgiving without it…

I saw rice flour was available, with a pie crust recipe, and decided to attempt it.  So, I’m following the recipe, and I get to the end, where you roll it out.  Then it says to cut the crust in slices, and put the slice into the pie pan.  I kid you not.  Normally, one just rolls out the crust and put it as a whole piece into the pie pan.  I thought, “well, this will be interesting…”  Some slices were put in place neatly, and others….well…let’s just say the crust looks like a patchwork quilt. Heh.  Oh well, I’m sure it will taste okay. (she says with fingers crossed).

Oh, and to Joe Donnelly–yeah, I will have a Happy Thanksgiving, thanks to my family.

While I’m working in the kitchen,  I have the TV station tuned to the 70s music station.  I hear some familiar notes…but it’s the middle of one of my favorite songs, Dialogue, Parts 1 and 2, by Chicago (Robert Lamm).  In perhaps the last ten years or so, I’ve only heard Dialogue on the radio once….even on the 70s stations.  I have to wonder at the reasons for it after this station cut off the first part of the song, which asks people to examine their consciences.  The song is as relevant today as it was when it was written:

Don’t it make you angry the way war is dragging on?
Well, I hope the President knows what he’s into, I don’t know

Don’t you ever see the starvation in the city where you live
All the needless hunger all the needless pain?

Thank you for the talk, you know you really eased my mind
I was troubled by the shapes of things to come

Well, if you had my outlook your feelings would be numb
You’d always think that everything was fine

~~~~~~~~~~

On to lighter subjects–we got about 3-4 inches of snow last night.  I love it. I think I’m the only person in Indiana who loves snow.  Pookie likes it, too–she’ll put her nose deep into the snow, and come up with a snow “beard”…looks so comical it makes me laugh.  They’ve got warnings for northern Indiana, however, with 7-10 inches expected in the northwest corner (lake effect from Lake Michigan).

Hope everyone has the comfort of food and those you love around you this holiday.

Many Blessings to you…

Suzuki showing support for First Nations

by

David Suzuki is supporting the Elsipogtog protests.  Thank you, David!

Meanwhile, the trucks arrive in convoy. Another pic here.

Harper spies on the peaceful group. Note that their own intelligence says they do not see them as a violent threat….yet, they show up in riot gear and tear gas the peaceful protestors. I’m glad to read that they are also protesting Enbridge, which is in my own backyard.  “We want to keep the people and environment safe…”  bwahaha, that’s rich.  If you really cared about the environment, you wouldn’t be building a pipeline to begin with.

(DN also covered this happening in the U.S. towards nonprofit groups that big business perceives as threats. Big Brother has arrived.)

Lastly, this pic of a smiling female Warrior.

My other blogs on energy and fracking here, here, and here, and here.

 

The War against Teachers

by

Reclaim Reform has this somber post up on the worldwide attack on the teachers, the teacher’s unions, and free speech, as well. The last video (world wide) really got to me–treating these folks like animals!  Take note that World Bank demanded the austerity measures….

The Good Enough Student

by

Assailed Teacher has a great blog up on a student “Tammy” who does okay in school….but is struggling to pass a global test.  She must pass this one test in order to graduate.  Again, the “good enough” mothers analogy of Phyllis Chesler passed into my head…and I thought that “Tammy” is a “good enough” student.  Not perfect, but okay.    What really bothers me about all of this is that they are labeling kids as stupid who are quite all right.  They’re fine.  They understand concepts appropriate for their ages.  And yet, they are being put in categories that are not a true definition of their abilities.

Also, beneath this piece is an “interview” with Arne Duncan that’s pretty funny.  Too bad that it gets a little too close to the truth.

Setback for First Nations protestors in Canada

by

Keeping up with the First Nations protests in Canada–

A judge has ruled that indigenous protestors are not to interfere with fracking by SWN….even though it is on Mi’kmaq land.

There are other ways to silence free speech and protests.

A video here on the damage already being done just by exploration.  He describes the water from the broken aquifer as having an oily consistency.  I hope that he has taken samples of the water for testing. And that he goes back in the Spring to access the damage to the Earth, plants, and wildlife.

From the piece:

Water Flowing from Shotholes or Testholes

Requirements when water comes to surface or flows from shotholes or testholes

1(1)If water is released from an aquifer or stratum while drilling a shothole or testhole and comes to the surface or flows from the shothole or testhole, the permittee shall, without undue delay, notify the Minister and ensure that all drilling on the flowing hole is discontinued, that no explosive charge is loaded into the shothole and that the flow of water is confined to the aquifer or original stratum in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule or in a manner proposed by the permittee and approved by the Minister.

1(2)If water is released from an aquifer or stratum and comes to the surface or flows from a shothole or testhole following the drilling of the testhole or the drilling or detonation of the shothole, the permittee shall, without undue delay, notify the Minister and ensure that the flow of water is confined to the aquifer or original stratum in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule or in a manner proposed by the permittee and approved by the Minister.

1(3)If a shothole is flowing before an explosive charge is detonated, the permittee shall ensure that the charge is detonated.

1(4)Without undue delay, the geophysical licensee shall submit to the Minister a report, on a form provided by the Minister, with respect to each flowing shothole or testhole

(a)after the flow of water has been confined to the aquifer or original stratum under subsections (1) and

(2), or (b)after reasonable attempts have been made to confine the flow of water to the aquifer or original stratum under subsections (1) and (2).

1(5)If, after reasonable attempts have been made, the flow of water from a shothole or testhole cannot be confined in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule, the geophysical licensee shall, as soon as possible, submit to the Minister for his or her approval a plan for the control and management of the flow of water.

1(6)If water flows from a shothole or testhole when drilling operations are in progress, the permittee shall ensure that the process referred to in subsection 2(2) of this Schedule is complied with when any subsequent shotholes or testholes in the sequence are drilled.”

~~~~~~~~~

Anonymous has this posted on the Warriors being held in solitary confinement.

Parents being arrested for protecting their children’s water….for protecting the future.

Finally, Idle No More has this up for anyone wishing to help the Elsipogtog.

Cheap Real Estate – your local school **edited

by

Jan Ressenger has this disturbing link to a Philly.com article on investors buying school building cheaply.  She also has this link to a Valerie Strauss report in the Washington Post.

Strauss reprinted a report by Helen Gym:

For more than 10 months, Parents United for Public Education and our lawyers at the Public Interest Law Center of  Philadelphia have been fighting to make public the Boston Consulting Group’s list of 60 schools recommended for closure and the criteria it used for developing the list. In 2012, BCG contracted with the William Penn Foundation to provide “contract deliverables,” one of which was identifying 60 public schools for closure. William Penn Foundation solicited donations for this contract, including some from real estate developers and those promoting charter expansion. The “BCG list” was referred to by former Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen in public statements. But District officials refused to release the list, saying that it was an internal document and therefore protected from public review.

~~~~~~~~~~

Does anybody else smell ALEC involvement?  I mean, the playbook of hiding what should be public information is sooo ALEC.

Gym makes the point that these records, although termed “internal” are shared with philanthropic organizations and stakeholders.  I would like a definition of stakeholder—because from where I sit, the public IS a stakeholder.

And she is right on with the query: is Right to Know now Pay to Know?

**edited to correct attribution. Oops.

~~~~~~~~~

Diane Ravitch has a link up to this excellent article by DSWright.  Notice how Duncan ignores the racist remark and patronizes people once again by dismissing it as just awkward delivery of the message.  He again lies about how our kids are doing in schools–they are not failing, No Child Left a Mind and Race to the Bottom are failing!!  Common Core is an outrageous legalized plan of child abuse that requires kids to answer questions that are above their psychological development.

Duncan also slips into the conversation how “partnering” with corporations is being promoted.  The lines are being blurred between public and private sectors.

Nowhere in Duncan’s speech does he talk of better educated kids for well-rounded citizens to sustain a democracy.  The promotion of the corporate octopus into public education will use schools as their personal training centers (more than they already are)—NOT for democracy.  Well educated people ask too many questions.  They know too much to take whatever is dished out.

The knockout game

by

Well, I think society has reached an all time low.   I can’t believe the psychobabble that the area of the brain for excitement develops sooner than other areas of reasoning, therefore, these teenagers are not in control….what utter b.s.  Little children know right from wrong at an early age.  They know if they hit someone, there will be consequences.

These kids are sociopaths with no regard for others. Only a sociopath would enjoy hurting someone.

And they’re cowards, too, who pick on people unaware of the violence about to befall them, so they can’t fight back.

But, hey, when they see adults using drones…well…it’s hard to argue that we’re setting a good example.

 

Knowing history

by

(woke up yesterday with a migraine-like headache from the stupid chemtrails.  Thought it best that I not post.)

At about 12:30 today, I asked the kids if they knew what happened this day 50 years ago…hoping that they knew.  Nope.  I told them what happened (briefly, no gore), and then told them some of the things JFK did.

It was disheartening that they knew so little of the circumstances or about John F. Kennedy.  I’ll bet they are very aware of presidents who promote war, however. (cynical, I know, but the over-emphasis on war in textbooks and the absence of praise for peace is glaring.)

It all seems like it happened yesterday to me.  And they have no comprehension of how this day changed everything.  I wished I could have gone into more detail with them, but that would not have been appropriate.   And as I write that, i’m thinking….these kids witness more violent acts than any generation before them….why would this not have been appropriate….?  I clumsily tried to explain to them that our society is more violent now than it was then–how could I convey that to them when they have no idea how that act, and the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the rest were out of the ordinary?    They hear about violence daily.  They experience bullying at school.  They’re being pressured to perform like circus animals at school.  Their world is so far removed from Camelot….it’s like trying to explain colors to someone who is blind.

 

Education News

by

Here’s a great post on what is happening to the kids.  You know….those kids that the reformers say they are concerned about??

G2 put a comment linking to this post. I found this passage especially poignant:

It is imperative, therefore, that we make school a supportive environment free of the extreme stress that can harm healthy development. Some stress is productive and promotes growth. However, especially for children living in poverty, creating an unnecessarily stressful environment has long-term damaging effects.

~~~~~~~~~~

To label schools as “just” a place to get an education is a short-sighted, narrow view.  Children in poverty are already stressed out by worrying that they won’t have enough to eat that day…that Mom will be crying again because she doesn’t know how she’s going to pay the bills…

…and the one thing that can make that child feel worth something?  Knowing the answer to a question the teacher asks.  Getting an “A” or even a “B” on a test.   Having a teacher provide a treat on his/her birthday….which he/she might not get at home because there just isn’t any extra.

School can be the difference between a poor kid seeing beyond their environment and reaching beyond their little world.

More here:

Child-development experts have decried the age-inappropriateness of the Common Core. In 2010, more than 500 people signed a statement stating that the “standards conflict with compelling new research in cognitive science, neuroscience, child development, and early childhood education about how young children learn, what they need to learn, and how best to teach them in kindergarten and the early grades.”

~~~~~~~~~

A reminder of the nonsensical approach of Common Core.

This just says it all:

The U.S. Department of Education hyped the Common Core as creating a “national market” for “educational entrepreneurs.”

~~~~~~~~~

Makes you sick, doesn’t it??

One of the commenters said that homeschooling is the next step.  Yes and No.  If you’re wealthy enough that one parent can stay home, you can do that.  And we would lose so much of the connectedness that school encourages.  We would be further isolated from each other.  I just can’t wrap my brain around that–our children and grandchildren will be living in the same neighborhood, but regarding the others as strangers.  I see kids out playing in the neighborhood and it makes my heart sing.  If this continues, there won’t be the shared experience of discovering new things together, of sharing their personal stories in class discussions (finding common ground or discovering other cultures), of class plays, of singing together, of inspiration…

Bring it on, Arne.  She’s referring to this by Duncan. Oh.My.God.  Did he really say that??  Did he really just insult a group of women who know their children and know their schools and know their teachers?  Is he really that condescending and arrogant? And racist?  I mean, really, if it was stated that a group of “angry, black women” were not accepting their failing schools, it would be seen as the racist statement that it is.

There’s another link here, to a report on Common Core playbook, from the Perdido site.

There’s more but this is making me so depressed I need to step away for the moment.