Why I hate Politics!

My mother-in-law, God rest her soul, observed that the continuum between liberals and conservatives was a circle not a line. In other words, as the two positions became more and more extreme they actually moved ever closer together rather than apart. This observation is crystal clear to any objective observer; assuming there are any objective observers left. Sadly, almost everyone who votes has rationalized their position to the extent that they are blinded to the truth.

The problem, in my opinion, is that the media has taken sides and has stopped presenting information without also spinning it to sway opinion. This is done by both the movements, liberal and conservative, each maintaining they are impartial, when in fact they are both full of shit. Let me give you an example.

In my opinion Rush Limbaugh is an arrogant, self-important ass, who mistakenly thinks that his success is based on his superior intelligence and talent. In reality, his success can be attributed to being in the right place at the right time with a marketable “monkey trick.” The fact that he is insufferable does not affect the validity of his arguments or positions. Being basically conservative, I would agree with much, but not all of what he proposes, even if I would rather plunge a knitting needle into my ear than spend any length of time listening to him. His counterparts on the liberal side are equally detestable.

Yesterday I was listening to our local “progressive” radio station and was assaulted by one of the most vile, detestable programs I can remember. The host (I don’t recall his name) who apparently prides himself on being civil and not allowing any negative talk on his program referred to Limbaugh as hateful , suggesting that something terrible must have happened to him during his life to make Rush the way he is. When a caller challenged his commitment to civil discourse the host spent twenty minutes explaining how calling Limbaugh “hateful” and implying that he—along with his audience--are mentally ill was not uncivil, essentially because it was true. How he kept a straight face during his explanation is a mystery to me. The program also contained a commercial for a book that outlined how conservatives were horribly bad people, with an entire chapter concerning the Cheney family and how wicked and corrupt they are. There are numerous counter arguments against the conservative solution to our social/economic problems, but you won’t hear any on this “progressive” station. Just vote against them because they are “bad” people—that should be enough reason.

If the founding fathers could have known the extent to which these examples of political propaganda and character assignation would be publically decimated by the media, they might not have written a right to free speech into the constitution. These propaganda machines, left and right, liberal and conservative are shameful, appealing to the most bigoted and ignorant in society.

Hopefully, one of the hottest levels of Hell is reserved for the media who promote this circus for personal gain and those political partisans who use this propaganda to decide who to vote for. They are the problem.

Another Ho-Hum Day

Some days are more interesting than others. Tuesday morning I awoke at 4:18 a.m. with a pounding sinus headache. I took two Advil sinus and two extra strength Excedrin and lay back down, trying to go back to sleep. At 5:40 a.m. my alarm went off and even though my headache was gone, I hit the snooze alarm twice before getting out of bed.

By the time I got to school a combination of the coffee and the cool temperatures had me awake and feeling pretty alert. My mood changed for the worse after I entered the school. Before I could walk the 100 feet from the door to my classroom I heard a young man scream and obscenity at a young woman in the hall. His back was to me, but everyone around saw me standing behind him, waiting to see what I would do. He is a senior and Tuesday was their last day. I could ignore the infraction and go along my way, but the crowd around him was waiting to see what I would do, and I feared that doing nothing would give the students permission to behave in a like manner. I confronted him, asking the young man to follow me to my room. I recognized him as someone I had taught two years before, but pretended that I did not know him. I asked for his ID to which he said he did not have one, and then asked if he had any identification and he replied no. I told him that he would have to accompany me to the office and on the way he produced his old ID from last year. I reminded him that students were required to wear their current ID all the time they were in the building.

When we arrived at the office we ran into one of the assistant principals at which point the student produced his real ID. I explained the situation to the administrator and he called on his walkie-talkie for the Dean who took charge of the miscreant. I wrote him a detention for his misbehavior. Because this was their last day of school he would have to serve his punishment before he could receive his cap and gown or graduate. He was not a bad kid when I had him in class and the Dean assured me that he had no significant discipline record--but some things just can’t be tolerated in a school building; obscene language, lying, as well as significant facial hair, even for a Senior on the last day of school and he was guilty of all three violations. The detention created a significant and well deserved inconvenience for him.

The day then reverted into the normal hum-drum associated with the end of a school year. During my free period later that day I was approached by another student who needed a signature for his Chemistry class next year. I took care of his problem and we had a chance to talk. He is a transfer student from the local Public High School and I found him to be intelligent, mature, and articulate. I asked how he liked it here compared to his former school and he said it was much safer and more conducive to learning. His former school is widely considered to be below par, even though their per-student expenditures are more than if costs to send a student to our state university. My contact with this young man was far more pleasant than the interaction with my before-school friend.

I ate my lunch alone, as usual, opting for the solitude of my empty classroom over the crowded faculty dining room. It is the only time I can be alone with my thoughts during the day. After lunch I sat through two AP Chemistry research presentations and oversaw an Honors Chemistry lab. After school I helped a young lady in my regular Chemistry class work through a review problem she was having difficulty with.

I had two regular tutoring students after school; both attend another local Catholic School. Getting home a little after 7 p.m., I used the last half hour of daylight to water the flowers I had planted Monday, ate dinner, and wrote an Honors Chemistry exam for Thursday. About 9:30, exhausted from a long day, I went to bed.

Liar Liar Pants on Fire!

The fact that students lie should not surprise any teacher or parent. The reasons students lie are as varied as the students and the situations. Like many things in life, people generally look for a simple explanation that covers every situation. Take for example two posts I found on the website “tachnology”, both by anonymous posters;

“Students lie because they have been taught to lie. For example, when the phone rings in their household, if mom or dad doesn't want to be bothered than they will say, tell them I'm not home. So when a child thinks it's okay to lie because their parents do it often, they believe it's okay to do so in any situation.”

Most teachers would probably nod their heads in agreement, but all lying can’t be explained by blaming it on the parents. Another post said. . .

“It doesn't matter where the child comes from. ALL ethnic children groups tell lies. Their ages are not important. Where they live is not important. Whether they are rich or poor it doesn't matter. What matters is whether the lie that has been told is told to hurt someone or whether it is told to benefit from a situation; get a job; get out of a punishment; get even with someone. The true reason kids lie is to get out of trouble or to better themselves in some way. They don’t do it to hurt people they do it because they want something. They will lie to get money "hey mom I lost my money at school can I get some more?” , , ,

This probably represents the best explanation for why students choose to lie. My friend from the Theology Department would argue that students sometimes lie even when the truth would result in a better outcome for them. They lie because we represent authority and you never cooperate with authority. In my mind they reflexively lie because they view a lie as always helping them. They lack the thinking ability to weigh actions against consequences.

The other day, before one of my classes, a young lady approached my desk to inform me that she did not have her homework, explaining that she forgot to do it. I reminded her that she could turn it in tomorrow for half credit. Later that period they were given time to work on their next homework assignment, and I noticed that she was wasting her time talking to the girl next to her. I confronted her, asking why she felt she could waste time when she had two assignments to complete before tomorrow. She assured me that the missing assignment was done and that she had just left it at home. She is so used to lying that she did not even notice that in thirty minutes she had told me two different stories, one of which had to be a lie. The embarrassed look on her reddened face when she realized she was caught made me laugh out loud.

I entered a grade of zero for her missing assignment which dropped her grade to an “F.”
Because she was now failing I decided to email her parents with the news, and the story of how she got caught in a lie about the assignment. Her parents did not return my email, but the next day her missing work was on my desk before school.