Internet Goes on Strike

http://sopastrike.com/strike/

One Stitch

I see injustice and suffering in the world and I want us to pull together and fix ALL THE THINGS. Some might think it’s foolish to continue to believe that we can do this. Some people might be overwhelmed by the bigness of the problems. But there are shining lights of hope all around us. Sparks that show how good we can be to each other. Knitters have awesome insight into the value of small actions. By doing one small thing (one loop, one stitch) over and over and over, eventually big things (blankets, sweaters, love, warmth, compassion) emerge.

The Yarn Harlot’s Knitters Without Borders is one of my favorite sparks (Knitters have super powers). There are other examples all around us. Please share your favorite sparks in the comments. The local high school here had a mixer between high-performing students and low-performing students as a way to break down those barriers and positively influence one another. An Islamic Cultural Center opened in New York this week with a portrait display that celebrates diversity and our shared humanity. People make beautiful things and help each other all the time.

What will be your one stitch, your one loop today?

The Wanderer

I am not ignoring the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. I thought I might try. But no. I am crying over every remembrance. Growling over exploitation. Railing at injustices. Wishing for better in this world. I am almost media saturated. Almost ready to turn off the feeds and contemplate in silence. I am thinking right now, mostly about going back into the classroom after 9/11. 

That was my favorite classroom. In an old building, a half-flight down from ground-level, two walls were lined with multi-paned windows that we could crank open to let in a cross breeze. When we opened the windows, the trees and grass and silent pathways made us feel like we were outside. I couldn’t stand up on the dais to lead a lecture that day. I sat in a desk with a full class. Only one or two people were absent. One of the absent women knew someone missing in the World Trade Center rubble. I ached for her. She returned to class only sporadically for the rest of the semester. Brittle and emotional, she crumbled with the passing weeks. Eventually she withdrew and I don’t know any more of her story. 

But that came later.

On that first morning, a few days after the attacks, I had a hard time leaving the original Micro-Sonar (he was fifteen months old). In the classroom, everyone was muted. I let anyone talk who wished to talk. Without judgement. We listened. When silence had settled on us for some time, I looked around and asked what we should do next. One student—he favored very fancy pens, I recall—suggested that he needed a break. He needed to talk about something else, anything else for a little while. A wave of agreement went around the room.

I climbed back on the platform, with the green chalkboard, and stood behind the podium, opening my copy of the Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1. The words freed us that day, for a few minutes. I don’t remember what we were reading. That early in the semester of a Brit Lit survey, we might still have been studying Anglo-Saxon poems. 

…The wise warrior must consider how ghostly it will be when all the wealth of this world stands waste, just as now here and there through this middle-earth wind-blown walls stand covered with frost-fall, storm-beaten dwellings. Wine-halls totter, the lord lies bereft of joy, all the company has fallen, bold men beside the wall. War took away some, bore them forth on their way; a bird carried one away over the deep sea; a wolf shared one with Death; another a man sad of face hid in an earth-pit….

From the Anglo-Saxon poem “The Wanderer”

A Call for Action In support of Texas Educators and Students

The news in Texas education is dire. The Texas legislature is working on a budget right now that could cost thousands of Texas educators their jobs and could have a negative impact on our children’s education. If you are a Texas educator, your job may be at risk.

If the current budget in the Texas legislature is approved as is, here are some things that could happen:

—-School budgets could be cut by anywhere from 10 to 20%. The largest expenditure in any district budget is personnel. How many teachers and support staff would be lost in your school if 10-, 15-, or 20% of them were laid off?

—-Not all school districts are talking openly about the budget projections, but Austin ISD projects over 1000 job cuts; Dallas area school districts project over 3000 job cuts; Round Rock ISD projects hundreds of job cuts; just to name a few.

—-Speaking locally, G-PISD has won awards for efficiency. Our district is a great place to work and to learn, but in a lean machine all cuts can bleed.

—-TEA has begun their layoff process.

Here’s what else you need to know:

—-Wrangling between Governor Rick Perry and the Federal Government is preventing Texas from receiving almost $900 million in education money. The federal government requires the states to ensure that this money be earmarked for education. Governor Perry won’t make that promise, so Texas schools can’t touch a dime.

—-The state budget plan is in the hands of the Texas House and Senate up in Austin. The votes of the Republican majority in both houses will determine the budgets that districts will have to live with for the next two years.

—-Texas has a backup plan. Called the Budget Stabilization Plan, but more frequently known as the Rainy Day Fund, this fund was established in the late eighties, and is replenished each year with revenues from the oil and gas industry. The purpose of the fund is to “prevent or eliminate a temporary cash deficiency in general revenue.” Here’s a short article about the importance of the Rainy Day Fund in the current debate: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-taxes/rainy-day-fund/texplainer-what-is-texass-rainy-day-fund-for/

If you work in Texas education, your job might be in danger. If you voted for a legislator who is now supporting cuts that could cost you or your coworkers or your children’s teachers their jobs, those legislators need to hear from you. They need to hear from all of us.

Please take a little time to let our legislators know how you feel about Texas Education. I’ve included contacts below, with particular relevance to residents of the Texas Coastal Bend. You can also use the Who Represents Me tool: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/ and the contact info at the Governor’s Office: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/

Remember, your STATE legislators are key in the budget battle. Personal notes and direct phone calls are more effective than a form email, but every little bit helps. The calls you make and the letters you write could save jobs and prevent the deterioration of our children’s education.

Thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of my information comes from one the following sources:

The news feed at http://www.texasisd.com/ 

The news feed at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/

And other professional, local, state, and national news outlets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you live in the Texas Coastal Bend, some of these contacts are for you. 

Gov. Rick Perry

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

Citizen’s Opinion Hotline: (800) 252-9600

Office of the Governor Main Switchboard: (512) 463-2000

Email link to form: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst

Capitol Station

P.O. Box 12068

Austin, Texas 78711

Ph# 512 463-0001

Email link to form: http://www.ltgov.state.tx.us/contact.php

Joe Straus – Speaker of the House

Capitol Address:

Room CAP 2W.13, Capitol

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

Ph# (512) 463-3000 OR 512-463-1000 

Susan Combs – Texas State Comptroller 

Mailing Address:

Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Post Office Box 13528, Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711-3528

Ph# (512) 463-4444 

Email: susan.combs@cpa.state.tx.us

The Honorable Florence Shapiro – Senate Education Committee Chair

Capitol Address:

P.O. Box 12068

Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711

Ph# (512) 463-0108

Email link to form: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist8/

dist8.htm#Form

The Honorable Judith Zaffirini – District 21

Capitol Address:

P.O. Box 12068

Capitol Station

Austin, Texas 78711

Ph# 512-463-0121

Email link to form: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/senate/members/dist21/

Dist21.htm#form

Rep. Hunter, Todd - District 3

Capitol Address:

Room E2.808, Capitol Extension

PO Box 2910

Austin, TX 78701

Ph# (512) 463-0672

Email: todd.hunter@house.state.tx.us

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=32&session=82

District Address:

15217 SPID, Ste 205

Corpus Christi, TX 78418

361-949-4603 (w)

361-949-4634 (f)

Rep. Aliseda, Jose - District 35

Capitol Address:

Room EXT E2.812, Capitol Extension

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

(512) 463-0645

(512) 463-0559 FAX

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=35&session=82

Rep. Scott, Connie - District 34

Capitol Address:

Room E2.302, Capitol Extension

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

(512) 463-0462

(512) 463-1705 Fax

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=34&session=82

District Address:

701 East Houston St.

Beeville, TX 78101

361-358-9400 (w)

Rep. Guillen, Ryan – District 31

Capitol Address:

Room EXT E1.320, Capitol Extension

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, TX 78768

(512) 463-0416

(512) 463-1012 Fax

District Address:

100 N. FM 3167, Ste 212

Rio Grande City, TX 78582

956-716-4838 (w)

Email link to form:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=31&session=82

Meanness, hypocrisy, and the lack of compassion and understanding in public discourse

Last week I was so proud and amazed by the power of people united in a peaceful movement in Egypt. But dude, this week, the appalling lack of compassion around here is really pissing me off. And I’m feeling particularly stabby about hypocrisy today.

I’ve had a hard time this week with the caustic domestic political rhetoric and the thoughtless stupidity that is overlooking the ways in which we need each other and the ways in which we should support and care for one another.

Congress is dicking around attacking reproductive rights when people need JOBS. My own state of Texas is also wasting time deciding what I can do with my uterus and the way in which my doctor and I can manage my reproductive health while a 27 billion dollar budget shortfall threatens the livelihoods of tens of thousands of educators across the state, as well as the quality of education for all Texas children. 

Wake up Lege! Texas is already sucking at educating and managing the children who are out here living and breathing.

People I know on Facebook are asking why we expend so much energy to take care of other people. A firefighter in Arizona did not go on a call because of political differences with the rest of his team. Institutions integral to a well-functioning democratic society—libraries, non-commercial broadcast and journalism, and schools—are being devalued and defunded. Worker’s rights are being attacked in Wisconsin. I could go on and on.

Listen to me. Humans are social creatures. We need each other. We need to take care of each other.

Texas, we cannot afford to make the proposed cuts in the education budget. Governor Perry, I respectfully submit that your economic development incentives won’t go anywhere if there isn’t an educated workforce to fill the jobs that companies may or may not bring to Texas. We need a well-educated, dynamic citizenry that can fill the skill-oriented and service-oriented jobs of the future. We need a well-educated and thoughtful citizenry that can continue to maintain the progressive ideals upon which this country was founded.

Texas, we cannot afford to make the proposed cuts in the education budget. Job losses are projected to be in the tens of thousands in the education sector alone. Job loss of that magnitude, in a state of our size, could not only drag down our state economy, it could topple the fragile recovery that has started in the country, and with that, the rest of the world. Everything is bigger in Texas, but we don’t want to be contributors to a bigger recession.

And yes, this is personal for me. I have three children being educated in Texas. I have a Partner who is a Texas educator. I am worried for my own family. But I am also worried for all of us, as Texans and as Americans.

I am so proud of US history and culture, of innovation and resources, of ideas. But I don’t want to live in an ignorant United States. I don’t want to live in a hypocritical United States. I want us to listen to reason and to pay attention to facts. I want us to have a social and a global outlook that continues to make this a great place to live. 

We have to find a way to make this better. We’re not going to get to a better place by ignoring each other, by attacking each other, or by throwing each other under the bus.