picked on

i've never worked for a school where i was targeted by administration.

i'm not quite sure what it is that i've done to make myself a target, but it was definitely something.

maybe that whole kids in the hall thing. that might have done it.

in the past two weeks, i've been completely disrespected by the boss.

it's a full-on display of power.

and i am the small woman who will be ground down and put in her place.

my my, the computer lab is a lovely place to throw luncheons, baby showers, and 8th grade breakfasts.

i love spilled sodas, overflowing tiny trash bins, and pancake fights over the imacs any day.

the pros, the cons, the indecision

it went fine, secret interdecoderview.
so fine, that i've since received 3 emails and 4 phone calls requesting my presence at a demo lesson in two days from now.
the train ride took about 50 minutes, and it was empty.
the walk was about 15.
the school is on the 4th floor with no elevator.
there is no lab.
the position may (or may not) be split with another unnamed school, 3 days/2 days.
the few teachers i saw there did not seem terribly thrilled.
the interviewer was awkward.
i did not meet the principal.
highly rated or not, none of these things are worth giving up my 10 minute commute, spacious lab, and no-questions-asked current situation, even if it means an additional 5 teaching periods a week plus a lunch duty.

right now i have 7 periods a week to take care of the tech around the building. apparently next year, we don't care if printers don't print, laptops don't project, projectors burn out, yearbooks don't get made, graduation programs aren't printed. and we also don't care if the same kids who received tech 4 periods a week get it again, while other kids don't get it at all.

no, we don't care.

but we're also not sure how to graciously let the other school down.

decoder ring

i have an interview tomorrow.
at a school which just might have high expectations for teaching and learning.
wish me luck.

the things that keep me up at night

at most middle schools here in the city, we use a report card system which consists of bubble sheets, numerical codes for grades, performance standards, and teacher comments. the system is mostly effective, but very impersonal, and it is very hard to remember which comment was given to which kid without referencing the report card and/or gradebook to say, oh yes, now i remember.....

there are a few occasions where the bubbles don't work for a kid. b is a smart, motivated, responsible kid, who is new to brooklyn this year from mexico, tracked into a mid-level class. b's mother visits the school at least monthly, checking in with the parent coordinator for updates in spanish on his progress.

for the first and second marking period i only saw b once a week, though his class came to the lab twice a week for tech. the reason was that b receives ESL services and could only be seen by the ESL teacher during his wednesday tech time. this is not unusual for kids receiving ESL services, or speech services, or counseling, or any other variety of services their iep's require. i have always graded these kids based on the work they complete in the time they are in tech, and make allowances for them because they have other obligations. i would never fail a child because they could not complete a project because they are only in class once a week instead of twice.

sometime in the beginning of the 3rd marking period, b's ESL schedule changed, and he was pulled from tech twice a week to prepare for the nyseslat, a standardized ESL exam. the bubble sheets allow teachers to denote absences from class in a variety of ways. m = medically excused, x=excessive absences, z=non medically excused, r=recent admit, etc.

for the 3rd marking period i coded b as a z, non medically excused. i had not seen him all marking period due to his scheudule change, and had no work from him to grade him on. a grade of a 90 wouldn't be rational, but neither would a 60.

b's mother visited this week, and the parent coordinator in turn visited me, inquiring about the 65 on b's 3rd marking period report card. i couldn't recall b being present in class during that time, had no records in my attendance or gradebook of him, so i went to the business manager to check the status of his z. turns out, when you list a student as a z, it means an automatic 65 on their report card. how unfair.

soon after the the 4th marking period began, b's ESL schedule lightened up and he is back in class once a week. unfortunately, between my bicycle accident (a post for another time) and surgery (same thing), i haven't seen him, more than about 5 times this marking period. but when grades were due this past monday, (monday! there's still another month of school!) i certainly wasn't going to screw him over as i unknowingly did last marking period. no, b earned a much higher grade, inflated due to my mistake from last marking period, a peace offering, not so high as to garner attention from the office, and not so low his mother may question me on his progress, a 90.

consistent angry dwellings

5th year teaching, 3rd school, same issues:

an administration who does not concern itself with the abundance of mediocrity in the classroom.

academic rigor and a challenging environment look great on paper and are easy to write but not enforce in practice.

administrators who haven't taught in years, and when they did, were mediocre, at best, themselves.

administrators who just don't see or just don't care that their attitudes, presence (or lack thereof), apathy, and overall demeanor set the tone for the entire school.

administrators who make vague sweeping statements regarding upcoming change, leaving some frightened, unsure of their futures, and feeling expendable.

teachers, underdeveloped, untrained, unsupported, unrecognized, unnurtured, overwhelmed, overworked, overtaken.

apathy. everywhere. in the support offices. from disciplinarians. from kids. worst of all (for the kids) from the teachers (can you blame them?)

my theory of the week, the solution to the epidemic that is public education, which isn't a complete solution, yet, but maybe someday... hire devoted leaders. leaders devoted to educational success. leaders who truly have vision to inspire. leaders come in many shapes and sizes, and klein's cookie cutter school template will not fit all the molds. devoted leaders will make it a point to only hire devoted staff. devoted leaders will lead by example, by their presence, by their values, their experience, and their passion.

teaching is about more than motivating, it's about inspiring. how can you ask a teacher to inspire their classes, if they're allowed to stagnate in the fumes of mediocrity?

inspire change.

the letters, they keep on coming

this one isn't a letter in my file, yet.

hand delivered in person by the payroll secretary after i dismissed a class today.

twice yesterday, a school aide and a secretary, sent by the principal status quo herself, came to my doorway to tell me that students can not be in the hall. they're recording their voices into the computers. they're doing their work. my door is open, i'm checking on them, and they're not being noisy.

there's a parent workshop going on.

i'm sorry, is this a school for students or for parents? why can't the parent workshop close their door?

and so today, after 4 pairs of students were in the hallway, quietly recording their podcasts, the script written previously, anticipating uploading the completed file to itunes tomorrow, the letter arrives.

dear appple a day:

effective immediately, no student is to be out in the hallway. you are a technology instructor and these students need to be with you in a classroom.

failure to adhere to this will result in a letter to your file.

thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

sincerely,
principal status quo

and, my emailed response:

Hello principal status quo,

Regarding students in the hallway outside of my room, my classes are learning how to make a podcast. A podcast is like an informative radio show, recorded on a computer, then shared on the Internet. Students must first develop a script with their partner, then record their voices reading the script onto the computer. The students who were in the hallway were recording their podcasts. The hallway was a quieter space to record than in the classroom where other students were still collaborating on their scripts. I understand the need for quiet hallways, and was only hoping to offer these students a quieter space to record in. I apologize for the disruption that this independent work created.

Sincerely,

appple a day

because we are not supposed to engage our students in any sort of creative, nonstandard, exciting curriculum, which might lead them to require a quiet environment to independently work on a project. it would be better if they were meaninglessly surfing the web in the classroom. at least the hallways would be quiet.

fuck.
it's my 3rd school in 5 years.
is there one out there that embraces creativity and nontraditional teaching practices, where i can teach what i consider to be unique and important skills without fear of ticking off the administration? it's not like they're even inquiring about content, or making alternate suggestions.

when i tell the kids tomorrow that they all have to record in the classroom they're going to freak. you can't tell 30 kids to quietly record their own voices. this blows.

first blooms of spring, right outside my classroom window

breaking news

two events of rather large proportion occurred between last thursday and friday.

thursday's events included a certain former principal of a certain school slated to be closed in june and reopened in september under a new name with new management being removed from her post as principal under allegations that she doctored high school students transcripts among other things. great discussion found over here.

and friday, i received my very first letter in my file. for being 7 minutes late to a staff meeting. a staff meeting i didn't know about until 630 the morning of, because no announcement was made, and i did not have the opportunity to check the office whiteboard during the 6 hour timeframe that the information was posted. the letter did not come as a surprise, but as a kick in the ass, considering i'd received no warning, had never been late to a meeting before, and walked in to find staff applauding me for the job i'd done on electronifying the progress reports online. i must say, it was certainly a great way for AP to throw her weight around. if she didn't have my respect before, she's certainly gone and outdone herself on trying to earn it by unfairly reprimanding me. my response letter was snarky and insulting enough to garner a mild response of avoidance from her. i'm sure i'll hear more tomorrow on whether the letter will stick or not. i'll fight it all the way if i have to.

financial crisis

so daunting, so dooming, so looming and inevitable.
we're hearing mixed messages, that's for sure.
it all makes me really angry.
15,000 new teachers could be laid off by next year.
that would mean every teacher with less than 3 years of experience.
which would mean i'm safe, but since i'm so far out of license, i could be a candidate for excessing. the uft is shirking me around, not returning my calls, and it's a waiting game with albany. i can't seem to get a straight answer from the state or the doe regarding whether or not my 2nd masters program will be an acceptable means of educational technology certification.

and holy jeez, they're talking about bumping class size up again. i read today that by increasing class size by just 2, we would save 187 million a year.

and then we can buy two more editions of aris with the savings.

seriously, please.

who is making the decisions in this city?

when is education going to be taken seriously in the country?

why are we bailing out banks and people who overspent on a house they couldn't afford?

why are three important teachers from my school sitting in a room somewhere for the past month grading state assessments that they don't believe in? albany demands the assessments, then schools should not have to give up valuable resources to grade those exams. we now have every child who receives mandate ESL services getting shafted because their teachers are grading tests. and students who receive extra reading help are not getting their help because their teacher is grading tests. who makes these rules? and why are things done like this? uggggg.

in other world news, i've finished up the typing/data analysis/graphing unit and we've moved into blogging for the 3rd marking period. my kids don't have this url, but i'm parallel blogging over at http://apfelteachestech.blogspot.com/. feel free to check it out.

conjecture

it's been a while, yes, i know.

here we are, wrapping up the 2nd marking period, and i can safely say that at least 50%, if not more, of my students will fail this semester. two assignments comprised the grade, classwork weighing it at 60% and homework at 40. at my insistence, the classwork was completed by at least 98% of my students. the homework, an independent research project on the topic of their own choice, excluding celebrities, bands, and video games, was completed by somewhere in the vicinity of 35-40% of students. and of that, only about 30% actually met the requirements. the learning i'm taking away from this is that 8th graders do not know how to research a topic. they do not understand the consequences of plagiarism, they did not pay attention when i taught them to validate their information online and cross check their facts. they did not listen when i taught them to document their resources. they reverted back to their copy and paste methods, and i caught them, and they will fail. my favorite thing to do is print up the wikipedia or ehow or yahoo answers or howstuffworks article they used and staple it to their report, highlighting the identical paragraphs in coordinating colors. and they just don't get it. they think this is ok. next up, a lesson on the consequences of plagiarism at the high school and college level.

i'm attempting to make the upcoming 3rd marking period more fun for my students, which, much to their dismay does not include turning my classroom into an arcade hall, but giving them some options about what to learn next. one class seems particularly bent on making their own web pages, while another wants to make podcasts to play for each other. the web page thing should be easy, i'm actually going to lead them through blogs first, then get them into google sites probably, or knol, unless anyone has any alternative suggestions or recommendations. as for the podcasting, we'll do that in garage band, which they've got some minimal exposure to, and i need some brushing up on myself.

there's much to do in the upcoming days and weeks to get ready for this, but i think it may actually make my experience and my students' more meaningful and engaging.

speaking of which, my sister got engaged over christmas and i'm going to boston the weekend after next to meet the machatunim. ok, they're not really my machatunim but i couldn't resist using the word.

wow, just wow.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2008/12/08/2008-12-08_failing_brooklyn_ps_to_be_shut_will_neve.html

yeah, i got out just in time.



ps: i'm moving. drop a line if you want to know where.

i am so sick

of this smarmy motherfucker
yanking his own dick
and talking about all the whoopdy doo fucking things he says he's done over his many many too many years, fucking retire already and move to one of your too many houses, unless you forgot where it is.
and i'm so fucking sick
of hearing his asinine retorts about what obama hasn't done or has stood up for
instead of what his own plan is
to fix this broken
fucked up
fuck this we're not 'entering a recession'
we're neck fucking deep in a national
depression.

the stock market is down
my friends are getting laid off
everything is getting more expensive
budgets everywhere are being cut

and i dont trust that face
to repair it.

a week in pictures

we harvested the rest of the tomatoes we'd planted at d's parent's house in bergen beach.










i volunteered at two different adoption events, one in white plains, and the other here in the slope. in two days we found homes for 10 dogs and 7 cats. and 4 birds. this is butta bean, a 5 year old american bulldog, who no joke, proudly wore these sunglasses all day long.



and this is the newest addition to our four-legged black and white family. world, meet joan jett:

grad school, part 2

my first go-around at grad school was primarily an exercise in cramming as much education as i could into two solid years of life. from 2004-2006 i somehow managed to plan lessons, write papers, complete lab reports, create activities, grade papers, teach classes, meet with mentors, design my own curriculum, teach an after school program, attend classes, study for exams, and occasionally get together with friends to get massively wasted and forget why i was doing all this. but oh yes, the free (well somewhat free) masters degree. my degree was subsidized through the new york city teaching fellows, which meant the city paid for half of my degree, the rest came out of my paycheck over two years, and i devoted myself to teaching in an inner city school for at least two years. the degree, which was not terribly difficult, more tedious, to earn, has not proven to be especially helpful towards what i specifically do. the teaching fellows generally seek high-need area teachers, including elementary, special ed, esl, bilingual, ela, math, and sciences. technology is not considered a high need area, though enough schools are seriously lacking an expert to manage and implement their equipment effectively.

and so, 150 lesson plans, a dozen ten page essays, 18 lab reports, 4 running records, 80 personal reflections, 25 journal entries, and a bout with shingles later, i graduated with this degree in childhood education, certifying me to legally teach a kindergarten through 6th grade class anywhere in new york state, and many other states who have reciprocal teaching license with new york, massachusetts excluded.

in the last 5 years i've never actually taught within my license area, except on the rare occasion that i've subbed for 5th grade classes when their teachers are in meetings. i've always taught 5th-8th grade technology, and while according to the laws of new york city, i can legally teach 1 year out of my license area, 2 is not legit, making this year a fuzzy area for me to be in, teaching 7 8th grade classes.

the michigan program i was accepted into is a pretty cool opportunity for me to become a legit tech teacher, and also expand my horizons at the same time. it's a 15 month, 36 credit masters in ed with a concentration in educational technology. it would start this may, with an online course, then a 3 week residency in geneva, another 4 courses online in the fall and spring, then back to geneva to graduate in july of 2010.

i'm not entirely sure what doors it will open for me in terms of career, but it sounds like the right direction to go in. i'm also pretty psyched to see geneva, though from what it seems like there isn't much time for sightseeing, mostly learning new apps, coding, and building websites.

i'm hugely nervous for the loans, but really excited for the content. and to meet other teacherly geeks like me.

and so no, i'm not relocating to flint, much to michael moore's possible dismay. i'll never even have to visit the campus as long as all goes according to plan. it may not be as glamorous as stanford or columbia teacher's college, but i think it's the right program for me.

i hope i get an early reading list. i've been craving some good educational literature.

michigan

i got in :D

when wednesday night feels like sunday

the procrastinating i did this past weekend was futile, in part because the hopes i had of making up the work on this sweet and fine new year were completely irrational. i've never been the kid to finish all my homework the first night of vacation so i have the whole week worry free. i'd rather give myself anxiety about it all week and do a shoddy job on the sunday night before we go back to school.

and so, my 7th graders have nothing to do tomorrow so we'll practice what we started monday, a hands on approach to determining the best search engine for the job.

this is the first year i'm feeling like my teaching years may be dwindling. i'm exhausted of the constant management. i enjoy the content, i enjoy the age bracket of my kids, but i do not enjoy the few problem children who make my job unpleasant. sure, there are tips and tricks to reel them back in and get them to participate and absorb. i just don't feel prepared to spend the energy on that part of my job this year. the summer built me up with hopes of pleasant, intrinsically motivated, well behaved kids. and i got a slightly rowdier than expected bunch. every day i check the mail, i wonder what will happen with michigan. it's become this lighthouse in dark waters, luring me to greener pastures. complete with little dad on my shoulder, whispering, "summers off, 8 and a quarter fixed rate, only 24 more years till retirement." and usually something happens in school the next day to dissuade me from staying. monday, it was fernando, intentionally but possibly unknowingly (he's just that type of kid) putting gum inside the cd rom drive, causing it to eject and close, eject and close, eject and close continuously, until i call to have the damn thing repaired. he denied any affiliation with the broken drive when asked, but when i compared the gum sample found in the drive with the gum sample he spit in my hand while i was questioning him, i found it to be the exact same flavor, the latter a bit more chewed. and it was surprisingly suspicious that the broken drive occurred at the workstation at which he was sitting the previous period. not to worry, apparently his mother will be in at 8am tomorrow morning. though from what i hear, it's been like pulling teeth to get her to come in to pick up his report cards at the end of each marking period. so i'm sure i'll be at school bright an early for nothing, but that's how it goes.

i'll be watching the debates tomorrow night, for better or worse. i won't run a line by line this time, but i'll probably participate in rachel's drinking game. that may be the only way to survive it. after a grueling email exchange with a particularly conservative family member, i think i may have had my fill of political banter for the week. i'm considering tomorrow night's debates a mood lightener, a comedy hour if you will.

i'm kind of feeling sick. it might be allergies though.

my notes from dee baits.

opening - 2 mins

obama
giving $ to get $ back
support the shrinking middle class

mccain
you might loose your house
this is the end of the beginning of the way to solve this financial problem.
huh?

q - do you favor the national financial plan?

o
how did we get here?
2 yrs ago o believed that the sub prime lending mess would lead to these problems
wrote to sect of treasure to make sure it was understood and dealt with
must solve short term
govt must intervene
how were so many regs shredded?

m
will vote for the plan but...
worries about frannie and freddie, and of course, saw this coming
(though as of last week believed the economy was fine!)
talked a bunch of bs about the war at normandy, tried to draw parallels about holding people responsible accountable and rewarding the successes.


o
yes, we need more responsibility, but not just when there's a crisis
not what's good for wall street, but what's good for main street
what are the real factors that have caused this economic downturn
"john, 10 days ago YOU said the foundation of the economy is sound.
the TEACHERS are having to take out extra debt to make their financial ends meet.
thanks o

m
yeah, we gotta fix this problem
main street is paying a penalty for the greed in DC and wall street
WTF!
i have a fundamental belief in the american worker


q - are there fundamental differences btw what m would do vs o

m
get control of DC's spending
we republicans came to power to change govt and govt changed us
former members of congress in prison b/c of evils of earmarking and pork barrel spending
3 mill taxpayers $ spent and congressmen in jail for it
will VETO every spending bill that comes across desk
o has asked for 9mill$ for projects
not the way to reign in spending in DC

o
earmarks process is abused
has denied any spending for illinois
earmarks account for 18bill in last year's budget
m is proposing 300 bill in tax cuts to wealthy and corps
grow econ from bottom up
tax cuts for 95% of working fams
better recipe for economic growth than bush and m

m
o suspended pork barrel requests after running for prez
m has fought against pork barrel spending
o is proposing 8bill in new spending
m wants to cut spending, keep taxes low
worst thing to do is raise tax3es

o
closes corporate loopholes
stop shipping jobs overseas
make sure we have a healthcare system
to provide everyone with healthcare
nobody is denying that 18bgill is important
o will go line by line to make sure we arent spenidng money unecesarily
get middle class back on track
m is neglecting people who are struggling right now

m on taxes
o finds business tax objectionable
m wants to cut business tax
to create jobs
us senate will
this is where mccain starts garbling about o's definition of what is rich

o
95% will get a tax cut
if you make less than 250k/year you wont get an increase
loopholes cause businesses to pay lowest taxes
m wants to add tax cuts over the loopholes
m's 5000$ health increase but it's taxed so you have to pay your own health

m
i voted against an energy bill and o has voted for it
o voted to increase taxes for ppl who earn 42k a year

o
under m's plan oil companies will receive tax breaks
if we give breaks to oil companies, there are those who won't get them


Q- as prez, as a result of whatever financial rescue plan comes about, what are you going to have to givie up in terms of priorities to pay for the financial rescue plan

o
delay hard to anticipate what the budget will look like
has to be done - energy independence. 10 years time, no middle eastern dependence on oil. fix our energy at home, fix our healthcare system. avg deductible up 30%. make sure we're competing in education. invest in science and technology. make sure our kids are competing. make college affordable. rebuild our infrastructure. roads, electricity grid, broadband lines. eliminate programs that don't work.

m
cut spending. examine every agency in govt. eliminate ethanol subsidies. do away with cost plus contracts. do away with defense contracts. fixed cost contracts. defense spending is vital but has to be cost under control. find out which got agenc ies are not doing their job and get rid of them.

nobody is suggesting any major changes as a result of the financial bailout

o
i want to make sure that we are investing in energy to free ourselves from dependence on oil.
list every dollar of federal spending to see who is promoting some spending projects.

one of you will be prez in jan, in the middle of a huge financial crisis. how will this effect you in major ways int he approach you will take towards the presidency

m
a spending freeze, except for veterans issues, and defense

o
increase early childhood education. bring the war to a close.

m
offshore drilling and nuclear power to end the war ?
we can create jobs by making nuclear power!
we can eliminate our dependence on foreign oil by opening 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030.

are you willing to accept that this financial crisis will change the way you run the country

o
it will affect our budgets
even if we get all 700bill back, we may not see it for a while. as prez i will make tough decisions, but we need to know what our values and priorities are. no tax cuts, and without leaving out health care. this would be bad.

m
don't want to hand the health care sys over to federal govt
want families to make decisions btw themselves and their doctors
obviously cut spending.
adjust spending, including taking care of our veterans
healthy economy without raising taxes is best way to recover economy.
major reason for difficulty today is spending out of control.
has fought against spending for entire career.

o
john voted for all spendings.
you cant say you're going to control spending, it's hard to swallow.

m
i have not been elected ms. congeniality in the senate
i have a long record
the american people know me well
i'm a maverick, so is my partner


much has been said about the lessons of vietnam. what are the lessons of iraq

m
very clear, you can not have a fail strategy that will cause you to nearly lose a conflict
we went into baghdad and everyone celebrated, then the war was mishandled
i said we need to change strategy and fought for it
came up with a great general and a successful strategy and we are winning
will come home with victory and honor.
we will see a stable ally in iraq.

o
should we have gone in in the first place
6 yrs ago i opposed this war
we didnt know how much it would cost, how we would exit, and whether our intelligence was sound, but we hadn't finished the job in afghanistan. hadn't captured bin laden, or al qaida. we've spent over 600bill, 4000 lives, 30,000 wounded, al quaida is resurging stronger than before. we took our eye off the ball, and we're still spending 10 bill a month. iraq has a 79 bill surplus. borrowing overseas to finance the war. we should never use military force unwisely.

m
next prez will have to decide how and when we leave.

o
issues of afghanistan do not go through my committee.
m is right that the volume has been reduced . this was a tactic designed to reduce the impact of the previous 4 years of the war. the war did not start in 07, but 03. the war has not been 'quick and easy' we didnt know where the weapons of md were. we were not greeted as heroes. who is best equipped as next prez to determine who will make good decisions about how we will use our military.

m
peace is happening in iraq and we'll do the same in afghanistan

o
troop funding- m opposed funding for troops in legislation that had a timetable.
i opposed funding without a timetable.
prez needs to ask, was this wise. we have seen afghanistan worsen. we need more resources there. m said we were successful there. nobody is a threat there. bin laden is still out. they are still a threat. must give iraq back it's country. end this war responsibility. in 16 months we can reduce our combat troops, provide releief to military families. commanders in iraq have acknowledged that we don't have enoguh troops in afghanistan.

m
this is dangerous
iraq is the central battleground. if we set a date for withdrawal it will make things more complicated.

Q - do you think more US troops should be sent to afghanistan

o
yes, more troops in afghanistan as quickly as posible. situation is getting worse there. highest fatalities there since 02. terrorists crossing border and attacking our troops. can not separate. send 2-3 brigades to afghanistan. press afghani govt to make sure they are working for their people. deal with growing poppy trade that hs exploded. must bust out taliban and al quaida and stop funding them.

m
i wont repeat my old mistakes
if you're gonna aim a gun at someone, you better be prepated to pull a trigger. i'm not prepared to cut off aid to pakistan. i'm not prpeared to strike pakistan. we have to help pakistanis get allegiance of al qaida. the terrorists dont want to cooperate with us. general petreas

o
i'm not attacking pakistan
if pakistan has terrorists, and is not willing to take them out, then we should not provide aid.
for 10 years we coddled the govt, alienated the people, lost legitamacy in pakistan, and now al qaida is more powerful than before

m
it was a failed state in pakistan when mushad came to power

omg i cant listen anymore.



in summation:

m is idiot, has no concept of sticking to facts

o is smart, needs to dumb it down so the average american can understand and relate

jl is old.

that is all.

things lil bush said tonight:

1. the poor economy is the fault of overseas business
2. optimism in housing values is a miraculous innovation of the past decade
3. a mortgage SHOULD be secure. you should not have reason to believe when you borrow money from a bank, that the bank will collapse. but sometimes, the bank collapses.
4. our entire economy is based in real estate. who knew?
5. we should be afraid. we should have less confidence in our economy.
6. our community banks may fail.
7. "more americans could lose their jobs"
8. "our country could experience a long and painful recession
9. 700 BILLION taxpayer dollars ON THE LINE to bail out mortgage based securities. it's risky, but if it works, we'll "flow it back to the treasury"


things lil bush did not say tonight:
1. this war costs us over $1000 each SECOND. so far we've spent 557 billion on the war in iraq.

2. has any effort been made to improve our economy from within? there's a huge green push to buy local and support your local businesses. has this helped?
3. consumer confidence is nonexistent. how did it get this bad, and why now, and only now is it being addressed. this has been a problem since before 9/11.


i'm stopping here.
i made a promise to myself that i wouldn't watch until palin gets popped by a yeti.

i can't bear to watch the monkey wear rouge anymore.

teachable

every child can learn.

every child can be taught.

we've hired a trainer.

he's coming on sunday.

and he doesn't believe in fear-inspired domination.

he owns 7 very large dogs of his own.

i trust he'll be able to help.

why chemicals are bad

we usually buy land-o-lakes cage-free eggs, as d is wisely encouraging me to support larger corporate business who produce greener products, and the eggs are quite tasty. we use them in all sorts of recipes, and go through almost a dozen a week.

that said, we ran short while d was baking my favorite cookie of all time, the fudge drop, designed to be like a brownie top, complete with crackly surface. so delicious.

we have a convenience store across the street, the wonders of living in brooklyn bring you that, and d ran across and was able to procure a single egg from the owner. unfortunately the egg was neither cage free, nor organic, as we could tell when cracked. see if you can spot the outsider: