Individuals and political parties in some western cultures (mainly the U.S.) spend so much time debating whether the theories of climate changes as human induced are accurate or not, or whether the science is well thought out. What this debate sets up is an out for all the people who want to put their blinders back on.
I mean afterall, I would be thrilled to find out that the scientists were wrong and we really aren't going to burn up or cause species to die because of our thoughtless exploitation of the earth's natural resources. But this doesn't really address the bigger issue--Americans have, for years, exploited our own natural environment and our corporations have gone to developing countries to do the same. We waste, destroy, and create havoc. The point is not whether this wastefulness is driving catastrophic environmental change, but whether it is impacting someone, and whether we couldn't find a better way to handle things to minimize the impacts.
I think the people who profess that human induced climate change is "junk science" are purposefully taking the focus off human environmental impacts, so that the average person can feel off the hook and the average person can then consume more (without worrying about reducing his or her impact or even making efforts to recycle)--this return to consumption then benefits these proponents who are likely corporation owners.
I don't really care whether climate change is real or not. Sometimes Americans with blinders need something more to dig themselves out of the rut they are in and find a better way to treat our natural resources and this earth that sustains our lives, the lives of plants, and animals. Maybe the theory that we are driving the earth toward catastrophic change is enough to get people off their couches, out of their cars, and out of the stores. Maybe it will get them thinking about new ways to protect our planet.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Messy Roadways
As we walked and rode home from a mom and kids bike ride the other day with cars speeding past us, I wondered how different the roadways would be if more people walked or rode bikes. There was trash all along our route, and the safety of walking or riding was questionable with all the speeding cars.
As walkers/riders, we were going slow enough for me to notice what was around us. Broken plastic toys, fast food wrappings, pieces of paper all littered the roadside. The sidewalks and bike lanes near our house are totally inadequate. We often end up walking the bikes through the dirt and weeds to be safe. I always pick my bike routes based on a drive in the car. Once we get going, I realize how inadequate my review from the car is. The route is never as easy or safe as I think it looks when speeding by in a car. The small stretch of no sidewalk turns out to be a quarter mile of dirt, thorny thistles, and toddler treasure--dangerous trash.
If people would just get out of their cars and walk, they would probably care about all the trash they saw. They would probably slow down so they didn't hit a human being or animal. But, we all just speed by without a care, on to the next destination, because of course our society forces the destination rather than embracing the journey.
As walkers/riders, we were going slow enough for me to notice what was around us. Broken plastic toys, fast food wrappings, pieces of paper all littered the roadside. The sidewalks and bike lanes near our house are totally inadequate. We often end up walking the bikes through the dirt and weeds to be safe. I always pick my bike routes based on a drive in the car. Once we get going, I realize how inadequate my review from the car is. The route is never as easy or safe as I think it looks when speeding by in a car. The small stretch of no sidewalk turns out to be a quarter mile of dirt, thorny thistles, and toddler treasure--dangerous trash.
If people would just get out of their cars and walk, they would probably care about all the trash they saw. They would probably slow down so they didn't hit a human being or animal. But, we all just speed by without a care, on to the next destination, because of course our society forces the destination rather than embracing the journey.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I just can't feel sorry for these people Why isn't the news upset about the poor?
An article online in the Wall Street Journal titled "From Ordering Steak and Losbster to Serving it" details the life after wall street for one man and his family. I just don't know if these stories are trying to get our sympathy or what. I don't feel anything except disgust when I read and hear these on the news over and over. I mean now they are living like the rest of us instead of living a life of excess...so what exactly is the problem here?
"Mr. Araya's wife, Dennise, has gone back to work as an administrative assistant for a construction company and leaves home at 6 a.m. Mr. Araya often works until one or two in the morning and on weekends, leaving little time for the family to be together. He calls his daughters every night during his break at the restaurant on his cellphone to say good night. (I work at night and my husband puts the kids to bed two nights a week. My husband gets up at 4:30 am every day for work.)
Mr. Araya now is the one who gets his children ready for school. He's learned to tie pony tails, inadvertently shrunk sweaters in the wash and knows which grocery store has the best price on milk. (My husband helps with the laundry, gets the kids ready for bed, etc.)
The Arayas stopped dining out, pulled their daughters out of ballet and tumbling classes, and dropped cable television -- even though the flat screen he bought when they first moved in still sits in the living room. (We scrape to put our kids in karate lessons. And believe it or not you can get 15 or more channels with just a TV antenna)"
I just can't feel sorry for these people. What really gets me confused is why the news isn't reporting on things like the poor and people who don't have any health coverage, or report on someone who is using adversity to help others?
"Mr. Araya's wife, Dennise, has gone back to work as an administrative assistant for a construction company and leaves home at 6 a.m. Mr. Araya often works until one or two in the morning and on weekends, leaving little time for the family to be together. He calls his daughters every night during his break at the restaurant on his cellphone to say good night. (I work at night and my husband puts the kids to bed two nights a week. My husband gets up at 4:30 am every day for work.)
Mr. Araya now is the one who gets his children ready for school. He's learned to tie pony tails, inadvertently shrunk sweaters in the wash and knows which grocery store has the best price on milk. (My husband helps with the laundry, gets the kids ready for bed, etc.)
The Arayas stopped dining out, pulled their daughters out of ballet and tumbling classes, and dropped cable television -- even though the flat screen he bought when they first moved in still sits in the living room. (We scrape to put our kids in karate lessons. And believe it or not you can get 15 or more channels with just a TV antenna)"
I just can't feel sorry for these people. What really gets me confused is why the news isn't reporting on things like the poor and people who don't have any health coverage, or report on someone who is using adversity to help others?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Community Service
My students are writing about whether Community Service should be part of the requirements to graduate from college. A good majority feel that college students don't have time, or find in unappealing based on their definition that serving the community means cleaning up trash, working with the homeless or working in a nursing home. As an teacher, I have used Service Learning in the past (connecting practical hands on learning about the subject to service in the community) and would like to use it again.
I was amazed and impressed by one student who talked about how she is already involving her children in community service. She has her children pick a "cause" each year and then they decide how they will help. She then went on to describe what her kids did for a local organization last year by having a lemonade stand.
I think that if we could find more creative and non-traditional ways for college students to serve their communities, such a requirement would not present a problem for students and would benefit both students and the communities. Making such requirements easier for students, might mean more work for counselors, teachers, and colleges. For me, the real question is can we get the faculty and staff on board to do the work?
I was amazed and impressed by one student who talked about how she is already involving her children in community service. She has her children pick a "cause" each year and then they decide how they will help. She then went on to describe what her kids did for a local organization last year by having a lemonade stand.
I think that if we could find more creative and non-traditional ways for college students to serve their communities, such a requirement would not present a problem for students and would benefit both students and the communities. Making such requirements easier for students, might mean more work for counselors, teachers, and colleges. For me, the real question is can we get the faculty and staff on board to do the work?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Lack of Sympathy
As I watch 20/20 and they are chronicaling stories about struggling families. I watch the story of the man who is now delivering pizza, his family moves to an apartment and sells their home and all the stuff in it, they are still able to keep their daughter in softball, and an "anonymous" donor is paying the $30,000 per year to keep their children in the same private school that they have gone to since starting school. I can't feel any sympathy for this man.
I imagine they are the people who have in the past turned a skeptical eye toward others. They at one time looked down on others who have less and felt they were less because of it. We are who we are with or without our stuff. I can't have sympathy for this man and his family who have gone from excess to the world the rest of us live in.
Maybe 20/20 isn't asking me to have sympathy. Maybe they have published this to show all those others who live in this guy's neighborhood or one of the other cookie cutter neighborhoods like it, that this could happen to them too. They aren't immune--they are not better than anyone else.
President Obama has it right when he promotes service. We need to stop turning away from those in need and finding a way to make a difference.
I imagine they are the people who have in the past turned a skeptical eye toward others. They at one time looked down on others who have less and felt they were less because of it. We are who we are with or without our stuff. I can't have sympathy for this man and his family who have gone from excess to the world the rest of us live in.
Maybe 20/20 isn't asking me to have sympathy. Maybe they have published this to show all those others who live in this guy's neighborhood or one of the other cookie cutter neighborhoods like it, that this could happen to them too. They aren't immune--they are not better than anyone else.
President Obama has it right when he promotes service. We need to stop turning away from those in need and finding a way to make a difference.
Taxes and protesting
This story is just too good! If you find it ironic that middle class republicans support all the tax breaks for the rich....read on...
http://www.alternet.org/story/132440/the_hilarious_hypocrisy_of_the_gop%27s_so-called_%27tea_bag_revolution%27/?page=1
http://www.alternet.org/story/132440/the_hilarious_hypocrisy_of_the_gop%27s_so-called_%27tea_bag_revolution%27/?page=1
Monday, February 16, 2009
Hope for the fall
Has everyone forgotten the positive? I hope that President Obama continues to push for service and grassroots organizing. If we don't take care of each other, there is nothing more to hope for.
I have two albums in my CD changer in the car. A song on each with the word hope. I hope... Why can't the news stop and the governments just realize we are falling, you have to fall to learn to walk again. If they put down something soft to fall on, instead of trying to keep the fall from happening, I think it would work out better.
I have two albums in my CD changer in the car. A song on each with the word hope. I hope... Why can't the news stop and the governments just realize we are falling, you have to fall to learn to walk again. If they put down something soft to fall on, instead of trying to keep the fall from happening, I think it would work out better.
Layoffs and the real story of USAA
The Sacramento Bee and Business Journal this past week have published articles about the closure of USAA insurance's call center in Sacramento. A total of 625 employees will have to decide whether to move to another USAA office (Az, Tx, Co, Fl) or take a severance package and lose their job.
Six years ago, I was in this same position. USAA consolidated my job and moved us to either TX or AZ or we could take the severance. I took the severance and decided to begin a new career in teaching. At that time, those of us who left read a faint writing on the wall and speculated that USAA would close the entire office within five years. We were almost right--it was six.
It's funny to me how the business journal and bee speculate about why or what it has to do with the economy or what it might mean for the insurance industry. It has nothing to do with any of these things. USAA bulked up over several years in the 1990s and in 2000's the began trimming back down. Another reason they are leaving California is their constant battle with employment laws here. There was always one set of "rules" for CA employees and another set for everyone else. USAA has wanted out of having to tailor things for CA employees for a long time. San Antonio management has always been frustrated by the differences in California. Plain and simple, the cost to do business here in this state is higher. If they are looking to trim the fat, Ca is a clear and easy target.
My concern though is that it was easy for me six years ago to restart my life: my husband had a good job, the severance package allowed me to finish my degree and begin teaching, and we had good equity in our home. What will happen to these 625 employees (among them people I call friends) in the current state of our nation. Shouldn't USAA have more of an obligation in this current downturn?? Yes, they are offering people jobs elsewhere, but six years ago of those who moved with USAA to AZ from my department, they then laid them off there and consolidated the department to San Antonio. There is no guarantee. And what if your spouse has a good job here, why would you move and have your spouse leave their job--one of you would still be out of work.
Should you be concerned about the insurance industry overall? Absolutely not. (Of course, as long as it's not a company that is heavily merged with the financial industry--if that's the case, then yes, worry. But supposedly they have regulations to keep the two separate, right? Regulations smegulations!)
Six years ago, I was in this same position. USAA consolidated my job and moved us to either TX or AZ or we could take the severance. I took the severance and decided to begin a new career in teaching. At that time, those of us who left read a faint writing on the wall and speculated that USAA would close the entire office within five years. We were almost right--it was six.
It's funny to me how the business journal and bee speculate about why or what it has to do with the economy or what it might mean for the insurance industry. It has nothing to do with any of these things. USAA bulked up over several years in the 1990s and in 2000's the began trimming back down. Another reason they are leaving California is their constant battle with employment laws here. There was always one set of "rules" for CA employees and another set for everyone else. USAA has wanted out of having to tailor things for CA employees for a long time. San Antonio management has always been frustrated by the differences in California. Plain and simple, the cost to do business here in this state is higher. If they are looking to trim the fat, Ca is a clear and easy target.
My concern though is that it was easy for me six years ago to restart my life: my husband had a good job, the severance package allowed me to finish my degree and begin teaching, and we had good equity in our home. What will happen to these 625 employees (among them people I call friends) in the current state of our nation. Shouldn't USAA have more of an obligation in this current downturn?? Yes, they are offering people jobs elsewhere, but six years ago of those who moved with USAA to AZ from my department, they then laid them off there and consolidated the department to San Antonio. There is no guarantee. And what if your spouse has a good job here, why would you move and have your spouse leave their job--one of you would still be out of work.
Should you be concerned about the insurance industry overall? Absolutely not. (Of course, as long as it's not a company that is heavily merged with the financial industry--if that's the case, then yes, worry. But supposedly they have regulations to keep the two separate, right? Regulations smegulations!)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Suing the State of California
I wish someone could tell me why anyone would think it makes sense to sue the controller of the State of California because he's only paying the bills that take priority. So the government is already broke and then these lawyers are going to waste more taxpayer money for the government to defend itself. How is this helping anyone get paid???
Last semester my class watched the movie Who Killed the Electric Car? and learned that oil companies and automakers has sued the California Air Resources board over the increased requirements for clean air. Another unbelieveable lawsuit to me...
I realize that the government probably has attorneys on its payroll for indidences of lawsuit, but couldn't they be spending their time on something more important? Standing for the rights of individual citizens rather than defending themselves against mulit-million dollar corporations or money grubbing lawyers?
Last semester my class watched the movie Who Killed the Electric Car? and learned that oil companies and automakers has sued the California Air Resources board over the increased requirements for clean air. Another unbelieveable lawsuit to me...
I realize that the government probably has attorneys on its payroll for indidences of lawsuit, but couldn't they be spending their time on something more important? Standing for the rights of individual citizens rather than defending themselves against mulit-million dollar corporations or money grubbing lawyers?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Paying Taxes
For years I've said that I don't mind paying taxes; I just want to make sure that my money is going to good use.
I am astounded that the rich rulers of the republican party have managed to convince the average republican citizen that taxes are a bad thing, and that somehow they are paying for someone to "slack off"--someone who's taking advantage of welfare or beating the system in some way. While the reality is that someone on Wallstreet or heading a big corporation is the person who is really getting away with something. I've never tried to live off of welfare money, but it certainly can't be easy or enough to have a life filled with material prosperity! It might be enough to just get by.
I just laugh when I hear these party rulers in Congress cautioning citizens that paying more taxes is a bad thing. If we get better public transportation, green energy, healthcare, and other services, how in the hell can it be a waste of money??? Those will save me, my children, or our planet somewhere down the line. It sounds like a smart investment to me.
I want to pay taxes and I want the taxes to go to benefit us all. Maybe I'm a socialist, but I don't have a problem with that. I don't see socialism as something threatening (I guess because I'm against the excesses of Capitalism.) I see socialism as a smart way for a country to take care of all its people instead of just monetarily rewarding those at the top, providing a few meager services for those at the bottom, and leaving the rest in the middle to fend for themselves.
So go ahead President Obama - increase my taxes -- I just ask that you make sure they are spent wisely and tell me what I'm getting for my money!
(Of course, with three kids and a meager middle class income, I probably never pay any taxes anyway....but I would be willing! :) )
I am astounded that the rich rulers of the republican party have managed to convince the average republican citizen that taxes are a bad thing, and that somehow they are paying for someone to "slack off"--someone who's taking advantage of welfare or beating the system in some way. While the reality is that someone on Wallstreet or heading a big corporation is the person who is really getting away with something. I've never tried to live off of welfare money, but it certainly can't be easy or enough to have a life filled with material prosperity! It might be enough to just get by.
I just laugh when I hear these party rulers in Congress cautioning citizens that paying more taxes is a bad thing. If we get better public transportation, green energy, healthcare, and other services, how in the hell can it be a waste of money??? Those will save me, my children, or our planet somewhere down the line. It sounds like a smart investment to me.
I want to pay taxes and I want the taxes to go to benefit us all. Maybe I'm a socialist, but I don't have a problem with that. I don't see socialism as something threatening (I guess because I'm against the excesses of Capitalism.) I see socialism as a smart way for a country to take care of all its people instead of just monetarily rewarding those at the top, providing a few meager services for those at the bottom, and leaving the rest in the middle to fend for themselves.
So go ahead President Obama - increase my taxes -- I just ask that you make sure they are spent wisely and tell me what I'm getting for my money!
(Of course, with three kids and a meager middle class income, I probably never pay any taxes anyway....but I would be willing! :) )
Friday, January 23, 2009
Moving Toward Peace
Last night my husband was speculating on what "the terriorist groups" were going to do now that President Obama is making changes to foreign policy. I said they aren't going to do anything but fade away, because how can you muster up enough anger in people against the U.S. when the U.S. is being kind and humane. I guess I was trying to say that Obama is killing them with kindness. He then said but they have all these other issues with christians and jews etc. I still think the main thing that propels their cause forward and keeps youth joining is the anger against the acts the U.S. has committed in the past few years. Bush has given them someone to hate. Hate is what creates the ugly thing we call terrorism. If we take the hate away and replace it with kindness, their followers will diminish, their power will fade away. Then my husband wondered if the terrorists even exist to the extent that we've been told and whether they are simply like the weapons of mass destruction Bush never found in Iraq.
I think Obama is truly trying to "usher in a new era of peace." Whether the rest of the world will accept the outstreched hand, I don't know. What I am sure of is that we are doing the right thing. And because of that I can sleep at night and I can feel sure that we are passing on the right values to our children.
I think Obama is truly trying to "usher in a new era of peace." Whether the rest of the world will accept the outstreched hand, I don't know. What I am sure of is that we are doing the right thing. And because of that I can sleep at night and I can feel sure that we are passing on the right values to our children.
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