Orphan Sunday

While I'm usually more than willing to debate my political beliefs ... to the point of annoyance ... I rarely take on spiritual debates. This is because I am LDS, a Mormon, but there are so many I love who are another Christian faith, or Muslim, or Atheist, or spiritual in another way ... or live according to other principles. I love and do not want to offend those who believe things that are inherently unprovable, even as I do.

However, the political spills over into the spiritual now and then, so today I'm making an exception. There are children, very young, very vulnerable, very at risk children ... children *already born* ... who are in desperate need. Regardless of what one's stand on abortion or birth control or faith might be, these children are already alive and struggling to survive in this hostile world. THEY need help. And, if each of us sets aside for just a few moments our own ideological preferences, we could make a HUGE difference in these little lives.

You see, there are families who want to adopt these children "with special needs" ... these children who have been literally thrown away in their home countries. Yes, these anxious and willing families may not share your views on faith; I know their views are different from mine. But I also know that their faith informs their lives in ways I cannot imagine. Because of their faith, they are willing to take on challenges that would cause me to wilt.

So how can people who care but cannot do what these families are willing to do help them? How can YOU and I help a tiny child to find a loving family ... to find a way out of an orphanage where care and comfort are minimal at best? Simple: We can donate whatever we can afford (or maybe a bit more than we *think* we can afford) to help fund the horrendous cost of this type of adoption. Even committing to donating the equivalent of one trip to Starbucks could make it possible for a family to bring home the child it already loves.

Here are some links. The first is a personal story. The second is to the organization committed to helping each child find its family. The third is another organization committed to relieving the suffering of orphans.

http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/2012/11/an-orphan-tale.html
http://reecesrainbow.org/new-family/thechildren
http://orphansunday.org/

Great article about plagiarism...

http://gigaom.com/2012/08/20/plagiarism-defamation-and-the-power-of-hyperlinks/

This is one I need to share with students.

Choosing books

I enjoy reading, but I have a terrible time deciding what to read next. Mostly I beg friends to make recommendations or scan the groups at goodreads. Just ran across a couple of new ways to get recommendations, though. The first is whichbook. Set up to four range choices, such as Happy .... Sad or Easy .... Demanding, and the site makes suggestions. The other is BookLamp. It calls itself "the home of the Book Genome Project" and works similar to Pandora.

Pain of politics...

We're deep in the throes of an election cycle now, and it's all I can do to bite my tongue.

Yes, I'll admit it... I tend strongly toward liberal ideas. That doesn't mean I LIVE them. My life is actually lived very conservatively because I choose to align it as much as I can with the tenets of my LDS (Mormon) faith. However, I make a conscious effort to think in such a way that my beliefs do not impinge on the rights of others to have their own beliefs. That is, believe it or not, one of the basic tenets of my faith.

Here's how it plays out for me. I find abortion to be abhorrent. However, I know that many women find themselves in circumstances I cannot begin to imagine. So, even though I believe abortion to be wrong, I understand that is my personal belief, born of my personal faith. And it is a faith-based position that is NOT shared by everyone. Thus, I must leave procreation decisions up to the woman who is facing them. Only she knows her circumstances. Only she knows her position on abortion. Only she can make decisions for herself because SHE has agency over all her own choices (another of my faith's tenets). Because of this, I would never fight to overturn Roe v Wade.

So what in the world does this have to do with our current political climate? Too many of the Republican objectives are intended to directly interfere with the rights of others. They seem mean-spirited to me. The goal of overturning Roe v Wade or of preventing same-sex marriage is a matter of circumscribing someone else's life based on religious convictions that other person may not hold. What would those who rail against same-sex marriage have to say if they were faced with being required to wear a burqua? Outrage about their rights being infringed would ensue, and justly so. None of us should be forced to adhere to religious principles which we do not hold.

In the meantime, I will continue to live my life as closely as I can to LDS principles, but I won't be voting for Mr. Romney.

DRAFT

Ran across a new blog today: Draft at The New York Times. Where has it been hiding? I check out the NYT opinion pages regularly. Why haven't I seen this nifty blog? I must not be paying as much attention as I should. This is definitely one that will be shared with my students.

Dumbing down doesn't help

Two FB posts intersected this past week and caused me to groan loudly. The first was an article describing a list of words the NYC Department of Education thinks should be banned from standardized tests. Okay. Maybe they planned to get rid of every 7 syllable word under the erroneous belief that students would not know what they mean. Nope. Turns out words like divorce, disease, poverty, and dinosaur. And the reasons were unbelievable. They might upset a child who did not believe in dinosaurs or didn't celebrate a particular day, such as a birthday, or may have a sick relative.

The second post was an image of President Obama carrying a book as he boarded a plane. The post asked friends to send it on to at least 20 others, with the clear connotation there was something horribly wrong with the photo. And what was that horror? Our president was carrying a copy of Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World. 

 These seem to signal a deep-seated mistrust of words and ideas. How can we be expected to function in a world-wide society if we actively court the level of ignorance that would have our children protected from actual words and our president dumbing down his reading list? I'm afraid that active fear of ideas is part of the reason there is such a schism in American society today.

A third event, only tangentially related, but troubling nevertheless... This semester a student objected to the "liberal crap" I was asking students to read. He took his concerns to his father who then took them to the vice president of instruction. The irony is that the text being used was only an example, and students were asked to examine and challenge the writing, not to accept it. The student chose to drop the class rather than be exposed to such unacceptable ideas.

Derek Sivers' unique perspective

This is the coolest way of interrupting my thinking!

"There are doctors in China," [Sivers] says, "who believe it is their job to keep you healthy. So any month you are healthy, you pay them. Any month you are sick, you don't have to pay them because they failed at their job. They get rich when you are healthy, not sick."

Changes...

For the few of you who ever stumble across my thoughts, it seems appropriate to point out the changes that are happening on this blog. It started out as a space for my classes and for posts about education. Now I find that I'm posting more about the events and ideas I find most disturbing in today's world.

Recently had a student drop a class because of all the "liberal crap" I was teaching. Since when is teaching people how to read and write "crap"? It is dangerous, of course, to those who would prefer not to think or not to have their own ideas challenged, but that's tough. I'm proud to "live conservatively but think liberally".

So, who am I? I am a woman, wife, mother, Latter Day Saint, and an American. I am proud to be each of these things because they combine to inform my personal values. I value fairness and honesty and compassion, and much of what I find most disturbing in the world is because those characteristics are missing.

Worried about women

It's nearly impossible, especially for those of us who came through the battles to make birth control the province of women, to envision the vitriolic turn in the politics of womanhood. The double standard is alive and well and becoming sufficiently powerful to effect a return to oppressive regulation that should not even be a question on political radar. How dare a woman want control over her own life?! How dare a woman think birth control should be insured just as Viagra and other such drugs are for men?!

Cynthia Beard has done an exemplary job of articulating what I feel but have been unable to write. I hope that everyone will read and consider her thoughts carefully.

For goodness sake!

A friend posted this image:

I don't know where it came from, so I have no way of providing "credit" to the one who deserves it. Those who responded to the post were of the general opinion that President Obama is the worst president ever and is literally destroying our nation. One of them went so far as to remark that she and her husband "cried when we saw this the first time." Well, I'm finding that attitude less and less acceptable and felt the need to respond to the image and the posts. Here's what I wrote:

And I cry because this is yet another image attempting to divide our nation. Yes, the Constitution is under attack, but many of those on both sides of the artificial ideological divide in that image have had their hands in the effort to tear it apart. The problems we face today did not spring fully formed from the presidency of Mr. Obama; they were born and have been nurtured over decades.

I vividly recall the Civil Rights conflicts of the 60s. That was a time when most of the nation believed it was wrong to extend Constitutional protections to others for no reason but the color of their skin and fought the president vehemently for insisting on equal rights. Later thoughtfulness prevailed, and we understood the Constitution is supposed to protect all citizens.

I recall the scandals of Nixon and Clinton and the less publicized scandals involving so many of those chosen to lead this nation. We survived all of them. President Obama is a human being and will and has made errors, but so has every other president who has ever held the office. There is no need to extoll President Obama beyond merit, but neither is there a need to vilify him unnecessarily.

Our nation faces so many difficult challenges. We need to work together to find long-term solutions for those problems.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong...

So, the figures are in. It's more profitable for a large company to lobby than to pay its fair share of taxes. A study just out shows that 30 corporations paid more to lobbyists than they paid in taxes. Turns out it was money well spent, though. Not only did 29 of those companies pay no taxes at all, some of them received tax rebates. Maybe they were suffering. After all, the economy had tanked; many citizens were losing their jobs and homes; retirement savings were melting like butter on a hot summer day. Not so. The companies that managed to snag nearly $11 billion in Washington Welfare had a combined profit of about $164 billion (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/12/13/30-major-u-s-companies-spent-more-on-lobbying-than-taxes/).

The federal government spent $107.2 on welfare for family and children in 2011. But that cost is on its way down, thanks to recent cuts that will be phased in over the coming years. That's a lot to spend, but at least those people weren't making tons of money while getting Washington Welfare. Nope. Most of them were having a downright tough time keeping a roof over their heads and body and soul together (http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/welfare_budget_2012_4.html).

Frankly, I'd rather our taxes go to those who live at or below the poverty line than those who wallow in the 1% and above.

Student post

Love the creativity of this young man's blog post. It's an unusual and effective way to present information one has discovered. Thanks Alex. http://alexklibisz.net/blog_details.php?recordID=48

Gearing up

Two classes up and running for a week; two more starting today; two more starting next week. This is going to be one of those barely survivable semesters. Can't help but wonder why we take on more than can reasonably be handled from time to time. I know this time it was fear, fear of not having a class next semester, that caused me to accept an overload.

This is both an energizing and paralyzing time in any semester. I've spent weeks trying to revise courses and prep other courses so they will be relevant and timely. Now I will spend many hours just dealing with all the technical difficulties that happen in the first few weeks of any online class. It's surprising to me how many students don't really know how to use the technologies so essential to their success. It's frustrating that I must do most of the technical trouble-shooting because that takes away from time I could be concentrating on teaching or prepping or even grading.

Oh, well... This is the career I've chosen, and fortunately, there are always a number of delightful students in every class.

Fundraiser for Roland!

You can get in on a chance to win some cool prizes, but more importantly, you can help Charles and Alexis to bring their son home. Get the details here: http://www.laeliasky.com/2012/01/06/our-fundraiser/

Roland (Joel) needs to come home

Did you notice the Reece's Rainbow donation link at the upper right? See that "Donate" button? Well, I hope you will consider clicking on it and giving just a little toward the adoption expenses for "Joel." Right now he's still in Kiev, Ukraine, and must remain there until the funds necessary for the adoption have been raised. A Ukrainian orphanage is not a very happy place. The babies spend nearly all day every day in their cribs. Sometimes they have as few as two diaper changes a day. They have little if any intellectual stimulation. They are fed, but it's barely enough to keep their little bodies going. There is no treatment of their health issues, like the arthrogryposis Joel was born with or the Down's syndrome others have. Love is something they know only if they are lucky enough to be adopted. It's just not possible to save everyone who needs saving in this world, but right now it IS possible to help save this one precious little boy.

Imagine knowing that a wonderful little person you already love so much must wait for something as superficial as money so you can finally bring him home where he will be loved, receive the specialized care he needs, AND become an inspiration to so many others. You can help. Any little bit you can swing... please. If you can't contribute, please post a link to his page and share it with all of your friends.

When his adoption is finally arranged, Joel will become Roland Quest Wesley and join one of the coolest families I know. Okay. I might be a little prejudiced since Alexis and Charles Wesley are family. She's our niece. Then again, it's hard not to marvel at this couple and their amazing daughter, Laelia. If you'd like your heart to be touched today, read their story at the blogs they write for their children:

Laelia's life: http://www.laeliasky.com/

Roland's life: http://gettingawesleyinedgewise.blogspot.com/

It's not so black and white

A FB friend posted a link to an article written by Ed Will. She found it "interesting" but made no comment on Will's statements. So, I thought about how I might engage Mr. Will if I were talking with him about his points, and figured my thoughts would go something like this:

According to Will (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150422574527734&set=a.98301942733.92939.541152733&type=1&theater):

“1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.”

My thought: No wealthy person is in danger of being legislated out of existence, but the poor often need protective legislation so they can survive. The wealthy receive many hidden and explicit benefits unavailable to the poor. If their gratitude for those benefits was passed along in the form of jobs, etc. there would be no need for protective legislation. As Henry Ford noted, “There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.” He recognized the success of his business depended upon a population earning enough to be able to purchase his products (even if all his business ventures were not so noble).

“2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.”

My thought: This statement contains the assumption that only those who work give, and only those who do not work receive. I have worked beside migrant laborers who put me to shame with their industry. They would never be anything but poor regardless of how many hours of back-breaking work they were willing to do each day. And most of them were paid so poorly they qualified for government assistance. I’ve also worked beside those who had been given the best education, the best opportunities, and put in the least amount of effort to have lives of wealth beyond my imagination. It takes more than a single broad brush to paint a masterpiece.

“3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.”

My thought: This statement implies only the “haves” are being cheated. Michele Bachman expressed this idea more explicitly when she said, “Part of the problem is today, only 53% pay any federal income tax at all; 47% pay nothing.” (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/08/17/gop-candidates-too-many-americans-pay-no-taxes/) What is not usually noted is that more than 80% of those who pay no taxes live in poverty. They are among the poorest in our nation, and it’s unlikely that any tax required of them would come close to what would be paid by the 3.2% in the two highest earning categories … if they paid any taxes at all. (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?DocID=3057)

A much greater concern should be the many wasteful and immoral areas of spending by our governments, federal, state, and local, that are gifted to various regions and programs based not on need but on greed. I am an American, and I support our government, so I am willing to pay my fair share even when I do not believe the funds are being used properly. As long as I have a home and food and the amazingly comfortable life that I have, I would rather be found guilty of giving too much rather than too little.

“4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!”

My thought: This statement makes little sense. Our nation is not about “multiplying wealth.” It is, however, based on a concept of fairness that extends even to the realm of opportunity. Those who have been blessed to receive a great deal should be willing to share accordingly; their blessings do not always come because of their hard work any more than a really hard working person is always assured of achieving monetary success.

“5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.”

My thought: This is an unfair characterization that half our nation worked hard to earn its wealth and the other half is lazy and sucking the lifeblood of those who have earned what they have. The truth is there are some taking advantage of the system to get government handouts, but the wealthy are as likely as the poor to be in that category. The difference is we call handouts to the poor “welfare” but handouts to the rich “subsidies.”

About 8% of the population received ANY sort of welfare assistance, but only 1.7% received more than 50% of its income from welfare. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_people_in_US_are_on_welfare).

btw, in my opinion there is NO person who can possibly be worth the average $31,232 per DAY 299 CEOs of S&P 500 companies get. And, if one limits their work week to 5 days, that average jumps to $43,846 per DAY. (http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/)

I am deeply disturbed by the course of our nation. We seem to be marching headlong into behaviors and attitudes I find inconsistent with the life I want to live. It's harder and harder to focus on compassion and service when the national focus seems to be more on individual materialism and power consolidation, and I see that as a problem of all political groups. We are less and less willing to see the world from the other person's point of view, and that makes us less and less willing to compromise (not on principles but on actions and directions).