political animal – Page 10

Category: political animal

why didn't i think of that?

Posted on October 11, 2007 by wrekehavoc

who needs the rubber chicken circuit! apparently, there’s a movement afoot to couple campaign fundraising with concerts. republicans and democrats alike are pairing campaign events with concerts, from the police shows to brooooooooooce, and even maroon 5 [note to self: who cares about maroon 5, and would any maroon 5 fans even have that kind of money to pony up, anyway?] i guess the bottom line for these artists would be to sell tickets (well, really, it’s to sell merchandise — that’s where the money is made, apparently). but you gotta wonder how they’ll feel when someone they don’t like is linking their name with the artist/s.

i’m waiting for BS to say he wants to suddenly contribute to Frank Pallone’s coffers to get better Bruce tix (pallone took the seat of a now-deceased former friend of BS’s.) [additional note to self: don’t forget to water the money tree in the backyard.]

i wonder where this will all lead. since conservative republicans will likely not be sponsoring anything at the bruce gig (doy!), will they start fundraisers at those christian rockfests? will that bumblebee christian metal band develop a resurgence? and what about the hip hop krewe?

i suspect one of the biggest political fundraisers, if anyone out there had a brain in his head, would be to create an event with tickets to see Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. omg. i mean, hit up the parents, the ones with disposable income. and then hold onto your wallets, kids, while your tween grabs for it and begs you to support congressman so-and-so.

if nothing else, it might get your kid interested in the political process.

as usual, i suck as a mom

Posted on October 2, 2007 by wrekehavoc

yesterday was painful enough. BC started a running program at school geared toward tween girls — you know, all about girl power and healthy self image and all those things my girlfriends and i all lack? of course, she gets there, and there are three other third grade girls who say hi to her and quickly run away. the girls, apparently surgically attached at the hip, were not interested in making a new girl feel welcome. apparently, after i left, BC cried 🙁

it sucks having to relive childhood misery.

so this morning, i wore my workout clothes to school when i dropped BC off. after yesterday’s trauma, i took a few minutes and walked her in. i should point out that my t-shirt is an ancient, huge t-shirt that a woman from the Weekly World News gave to me when my old workplace was contemplating doing a content deal with them. i absolutely love this shirt and will mourn it’s passing when it goes (it’s 11 years old now). there’s a picture of a mink on it. the headline reads:

WOMAN KILLED BY FUR COAT

$30G full-length mink comes alive and bites rich widow to death!

ah, the subtlety. the new york post has nothing on these folks.

anyhow, i am walking out of school, having successfully removed my beloved child, BC, off my person. i see a mother. she sees me. she stops.

and she scowls.

i mean, a major, WTF scowl. like somehow, i am polluting the very air she and her child are breathing because of my shirt (which, i would point out, was freshly laundered at that point in the day.) she actually looks angry at me. i walked on.

that’s it. i’ve had it.

i’m checking ebay to see if i can find BC a Sex Pistols shirt to wear to school.

galveston, oh galveston

Posted on September 29, 2007 by wrekehavoc

when i was in college, i wrote an oral history of my grandmother’s life. (i have it somewhere and really ought to dig it up.) while musing online yesterday about antisemitism and such (you know — contemplating things like what i should teach my children to do if someone goes on a bigoted rant — about anyone, not just jews — like the woman in PT did yesterday), i came upon information about the galveston movement. it explains why my grandmother and her family emigrated to america through, of all places, galveston, tx. of course. because G-d forbid there be too many people emigrating to america to escape oppression. let’s spread them out so they’re less offensive, less noticeable.

they ultimately worked their way up the mississippi and ended right back up in new york city with the rest of their family. i remember my grandmother’s quote well: could you imagine? a jewish tailor in galveston, tx?

(no. i couldn’t, either. not at the turn of the 20th century, anyway.)

bashing

Posted on September 28, 2007 by wrekehavoc

so today, i’m at physical therapy, doing what i do best — sweating and being a complete and utter spaz. i’m on this pulley that i have to pull, attached, like a dog on a leash. i walk forward like the guys in genesis in i can’t dance only to hit the end of the line, and, like a dog that rushes it’s way to the end while chasing a squirrel, i get yanked back by pounds and pounds of weights. it’s pretty funny, actually, and i can’t wait til next week, when BC has to accompany me. oh, i’ll be hearing about this for years: mommy is so nutty! let’s have her committed.

but i do this every week in the hope that my knee will get stronger, that i’ll get stronger, that the world will resume some semblance of normalcy.

but will it ever, i wonder.

so i’m doing my thang. next to me is a woman who is working on another body part with one of the PTs, a really nice guy whose name i’ve forgotten. we’re all talking about new jersey, as his siblings live there and he’s off there for the weekend. i mention that i grew up there, and we start talking geography.

so this woman notes that she likes middletown, NJ. i mention it’s a nice place, that my mother taught there for a little while. i’m trying to understand what she’s saying — she has a thick accent, though it sounds like a mixture of asian and hispanic, and i can’t really hear everything clearly. but then, she starts going off on jews. v e r y c l e a r l y, thankyouverymuch. are you jewish? she asks the PT. he whips out two crosses he has around his neck. and then she goes off on how jews are all rich and-other-delightful-stereotypes-that-just-make-my-life-complete and which i won’t even write here.

COME AGAIN?

this was the point where i hit the end of the pulley, literally knocking the wind out of myself. they moved at that point. i stood there, dumbfounded. i’m still mad that i didn’t get to question her. politely.
there’s a part of me that has had such an incredibly shitty week that would just simply start screaming in a socially-unacceptable way. considering, though, that i have to continue at the PT for the unforseen future, though, i didn’t.

but that chick better hope i am not scheduled at the same time she is. she will get an earful.

why? why? why?

it seems to be increasingly socially acceptable to bash jews again. even segments of the liberal left (of which i always thought i was a part), some of whom are jewish, go after jews on the whole concept of middle east peace. it’s difficult to separate rational arguments from antisemitism, to be sure.

people seem to have forgotten how it all started: how many countries refused to let refugees from Nazi horror into their countries — sometimes in measured amounts, but plenty of times, outright refusal, america included. israel let them in. i’m not saying israel is even close to perfect — america certainly isn’t — but i’m beginning to get irritated about how it is becoming increasingly fashionable to bash people with broad brush strokes. as if we are one people who agree on everything in every way.

it’s about as effective as bashing all americans because of our president’s foreign policy. because believe me, it ain’t like we all agree with the Shrub.

grrrr…

oh, pbs!

Posted on September 28, 2007 by wrekehavoc

am i the only one who thinks its hilarious to hear the promo spots for The War?

The War… brought to you by GM.

i suspect GM probably was behind more than that one 😉

taking the cupcakes

Posted on September 25, 2007 by wrekehavoc

BC recently started life at our neighborhood school. soon thereafter, everyone received a note about school snacks. as the third graders have the latest lunch at school (lunch begins — wait for it — at 12:50), they are allowed to bring in an extra snack to eat mid-morning. the snack, however, is supposed to be a healthy snack — and apparently, if you send your child in with something like, oh, i dunno, HoHos, the HoHos will be taken (or put away) and your child will either be hungry or, if your child has a nice teacher like BC does, your child will probably get some graham crackers or animal crackers to tide her over.

ok, so i get the whole healthy snack thing. no one wants to have to teach sugar-hopped kids all day. after lunch is enough to have to deal with that. but wait — there’s more.

on birthdays, one is not supposed to bring in cupcakes. one is, instead, supposed to bring in something healthy if one is so inclined. one example i read was a popcorn ball. (aren’t those things put together with corn syrup? tell me how corn syrup is better than sugar!)

c’mon. it’s a freaking birthday! what on earth is problematic about a kid having a birthday with cupcakes? so now, i will probably bake muffins with chocolate chips in them and pretend they are cupcakes. i’m so stealthy and subversive, you know.

apparently, i’m not the only one irritated by this.

what is it good for? absolutely nothing.

Posted on September 10, 2007 by wrekehavoc

you know, when BC tells me that she’ll still be hungry for dinner if I let her snarf down some cookies?

i believe that about as much as i believe this.

tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of a most terrible day. it’s bad enough that i’ve had to have the conversation with BC about planes going into buildings. it’s even worse that one of my former colleagues lost his wife in one of them.

we have one of the official Arlington trees growing in our yard, grown to commemorate one of the lives lost at the Pentagon. it has grown huge, to match my anger over this Administration’s foreign policy. we’ll put out the American flag in memory of all of those lives needlessly lost: the people in NY, the people in PA, the people in the Pentagon.

and the people in Iraq. ours and theirs.

open letter to mattel

Posted on August 16, 2007 by wrekehavoc

dear mattel,

i’m sure you aren’t having a great week, what with recalls all over the place and the possibility of a really terrible financial downturn looming for you, other toy companies, toy stores, and the like. no one likes to see major companies flipping about like fish gasping for air. and right now, it’s really easy to point the finger and say BAD CHINA! there’s poison in our pet foods, poison in our people food, medicine and toothpaste, my gosh, plenty of tires are faulty, lead in baby bibs, and now this toy thing. just makes you wonder who, if any, of the residents are running the proverbial asylum, huh.

but i have to wonder how much of this you brought on yourself?

i know, i know. you did it because there was demand for it. american consumers clamor for cheap. they clamor for cool. they clamor for things, and you only want to deliver. it’s as american as ronald reagan, a guy i sometimes want to blame for these sorts of things. what does the gipper have to do with any of this, you wonder? the dude’s long been dead.

but you see, he isn’t. not really. somewhere in our history, he kicked tom joad the hell out of our collective consciousness and took up residence. see, he’s now the one who lives in every american who feels entitled to a certain lifestyle that is wildly beyond his or her means. he lives in every citizen who feels like they ought to have everything — now — and for the cheapest price possible. he lives in every person in this nation — maybe this world — who ignores the real costs of good and services in their daily lives. so what if some eight year old is working in a factory? so what if they’re putting diethylene glycol into cough medicine? if i can get lots of bling-bling at walmart for 50% less than i can at joe’s mom and pop store, man, i’m there.

so, following this ethos, you did what every american company tries to do — make a profit. nothing wrong with that, right? but who knew making a profit could get so complicated? doing business overseas — well, nothing wrong with that i suppose. cut costs because you don’t have to pay people a decent wage. [check.] then that company probably has to put the squeeze on their workers to make a profit. maybe put the squeeze on the product quality. maybe do some subcontracts with others who do things very cheaply. lead paint? no problem! [check.]

and of course, all with your consumer in mind. who are, in your case, children. often young children who are known to put things in their mouths, or ears, or up the dog’s ass, for christsake. that’s what kids do. even the most supervised child in the world will manage to do something completely insane with a toy in that one second you close your eyes to sneeze or blink. so how could you allow your designers to make toys using rare-earth magnets? these puppies, smaller and more powerful, can kill a child if s/he swallows it. period. i’m stunned.

and now, the biggie. see, you don’t have to live with my kids. but i do. and right now, between thomas the tank engine trains that were recalled, polly pockets that have just been called home, and even a barbie that my daughter has being sent away, my house is not the happiest place on earth. i just spent 2 hours with my eight year old howling. her favorite polly pocket toy has to go away. well, actually, three of them plus a barbie. but this is her absolute favorite.

and we parents, sometimes, we take toys away from our kids in an effort to teach them to behave. it’s a discipline thing, and we sometimes are in the difficult position of punishing/ teaching, our kids a lesson. only sadly, the kids are now being punished because american corporations couldn’t learn a thing or two about international commerce. i wish i could stick each and every one of you in a room right now with my screaming daughter. no food; no toilet; no way out; and one very pissed-off little girl.

it might be a lesson you’d not soon forget.

yours truly,

wreke

gifted

Posted on August 16, 2007 by wrekehavoc

a friend of mine posed a question to the ed reporter in the washington post today: tell us about the gifted and talented programs in the area? i don’t know about them other than the fact that for some reason, they teach accelerated math to all of the kids in BC’s elementary school. and i’ll be interested in the answer, though how that will impact our collective lives here is another question. i’m what you call a skeptic 😉

as the parent of an 8 year old and a 4 year old, i am seriously amused at the number of people around here who think their kids are gifted. i guess we all live in a super-special lake wobegon, where everyone is not only above average but in the top second percentile. i am often amused at how agitated parents get over whether the school is providing enough intellectual stimulation for their child/ren.

i once blogged on this topic awhile back because i was just so annoyed by the never-ending onslaught of parents obsessed with the state of their particular child’s “giftedness” (for lack of a better term).

honestly, for every child i’ve met who was designated as “gifted,” i think i’ve met only two or three who truly were. and the one thing i truly fear are parents and programs who believe that if a child is gifted in one area, then the child must be accelerated in all areas. this happened to me; and while i was arguably gifted in some areas, i was just your regular sort of student in math. put in a class with folks who truly should have had accelerated experiences in math, i ended up a fearful math flunky who didn’t recover until graduate school, years later, when a professor helped me rebuild my confidence in my abilities.

i remember when a certain psychology was in vogue — past life regressions — where people would be in some sort of hypnotized state and then come out believing that their ancestor was Cleopatra, or George Washington, or someone famous. no one seemed to come out of it with ancestors who were just regular people building the pyramids or fighting in the Revolutionary War. thus it is, i think, with children around here and gifted programs. somehow, every child who is bright is suddenly dubbed gifted.

and, if you pardon my grammatical error, it just ain’t so.

my hero zero

Posted on August 14, 2007 by wrekehavoc

BC is worried. BC feels that she learned math and science all in spanish last year and that she doesn’t know the english words for things. she says she knows her times tables — but only in spanish. in short, three weeks til school starts at her new school, and BC is freaking out.

no one should be freaking out as they enter 3rd grade.

part of me kicks myself for sending her to the spanish immersion elementary school. i really thought i was doing a good thing. you always hear the cases of parents availing their families to opportunities that they never had; well, this was one of them. i very much loved the idea of the school. i loved the idea, too, that my kids would be with kids of all sorts of backgrounds, not just kids of backgrounds like their own.

but unless you are either native spanish speakers; are fluent spanish speakers; or are a parent so enthused by the idea of your child going to a school where they speak spanish for one half the day that you are willing to learn spanish; then this model is somewhat flawed. my kid was essentially dependent on one child at her table, one native speaker, who could help her understand what the hell the teacher was saying (since the teacher didn’t encourage interruptions). and if that child had the audacity (yes, i’m being sarcastic here) of wanting to learn herself rather than helping other kids at the table, well, the non-spanish-speaking kid essentially is screwed.

it probably didn’t help that her spanish teacher seemed more interested in being strict than in being understood.

so my kid, who was allegedly gifted in math in kindergarten, is now telling me that she really does well in english and social studies. which, of course, happen to be the subjects that were taught in english in her school and which she liked very much. she doesn’t feel like she’s very good in math. GRRRRRRR! and this global citizen i am trying to raise is pretty dismissive of spanish. “spanish is okay learning it just as spanish,” she says, “but i really don’t want to learn a subject in it any more.”

i can’t blame her.

so this morning, i did what any crazy parent who needed to calm things down (for both of us) did. i put on multiplication rock, including my fave my hero zero (a song i will definitely cover if i ever get the chance to be in a band ;-). we sat and watched it all. and i think we’re going to watch it again and again and again. anything to help her build up her confidence. after all, it’s how i learned to memorize my times tables. (i also made up songs to some of my chemistry formulae as well, but we won’t go there right now.) she said she didn’t care much for the song for 6s, but that’s ok. she’ll learn stuff after a time. she’ll sing them loud 🙂

just like i do this in the car (another song i’d cover in my own band). yep. i can’t wait til we get back to the days when the worst thing in the world isn’t scary math but is the scary embarrassing mom who sings pearl jam at the top of her lungs. with the windows open.