Author: Cali Scribe

This might have sunk in the peace march coverage, or drowned in the combined waters of Katrina and Rita, but our Congressfolks have been busy while we’ve been watching other things.

Tip of the nib to The Huffington Post for having this headline on the front page:

House OKs Faith As Head Start Hiring Issue

So, if you’re a great preschool teacher, but happen to be Wiccan, you can be passed over for a lesser teacher who just happens to be the same faith as the potential employer.

And in the end, it’s the children who suffer the most…

There’s been a lot of talk about the big March in Washington DC on September 24. For all those going, travel safely and bring back lots of stories (and pictures).

But a lot of us can’t make it to DC…Some of us are financially challenged, or time challenged. Many of us have responsibilities to others that we cannot in good conscience ignore. There are even those who are physically, mentally, or emotionally unable to travel that far, whether alone or with others.

So what do we do? Do we just sit home and watch for coverage of the march in the MSM?
If you go to the United for Peace and Justice website, you can find a list of activities in your area, or if not in your exact area, maybe there’s one a little closer than DC.

If DC is the only place with significant activity, it’ll be easy for the right-wingers, the Bushites, and the MSM to dismiss the action as a bunch of smelly hippies without jobs. But if the sound of marching feet in DC is echoed on the streets in AnyTown USA, that’s got to make people stand up and take notice…including those who may be on our side but too afraid to make their feelings known.

The spouse and I will be marching in San Francisco on September 24th…I invite everyone to join us in the city of your choice.

Blessings and peace to all the world…

[crossposted on Daily Kos and My Left Wing]

[crossposted at DailyKos and My Left Wing]

Okay, before you all troll-rate me into oblivion, hear me out.

Last night, Keith Olbermann had Pat on his show to talk about the Cindy Sheehan Effect — how her efforts to talk to the President has possibly re-energized the anti-war effort.

Continued below the fold…
Buchanan went into more detail in his Hardball blog:

Buchanan sees a repeat of the Vietnam era, where the Democrats were split between the “stay the course” and the “bring the boys home” factions. And indeed, that could happen — we’re seeing a lot of objections to potential Democratic candidates based on their support of the war (we actually saw it in 2004 with Kerry’s flip-flopping).

It’s why it may be too early for anyone to be crowned a front-runner; too much else needs to be settled. If the troops are long gone from Iraq by 2008 (for example, if the Iraqis come up with a constitution and we begin pulling out after the constitution is ratified and takes effect), the impact of the Iraq war may be lessened in 2008; the American public’s short attention span won’t remember who was for the war and who was against. A lot can happen between now and 2008.

But if a Republican talking head can see the potential long-term impact of Cindy Sheehan’s actions, rather than just sitting back and launching scum bombs like the Limbaughs and O’Reillys of the media world, it would be wise for the Democrats to heed the lessons of Vietnam.

And hates Bush’s illegal war, too…

I had a lot of errands on Friday, and the spouse and I got a late start, but I was still able to hop light rail and head to downtown San Jose to make it in time.

They drifted in slowly, greeting one another, pulling out signs; eventually a crowd grew. I was standing there, taking pictures, when a woman came up to me: “Hey, you’re wearing a pink shirt!” It was none other than our own SanJoseLady (seen resplendent with signs):

More below the fold…
From conversation I overheard, the group is there every Friday, but tonight’s action took on added significance with what’s going on in Crawford, especially the upcoming right-wing counter-demonstrations (there are some fears that the righties will try to provoke Cindy and her crew).

Oh, and there were more at the Julian Street on-ramp to Highway 87, and evidently someone called the San Jose Police to report “anarchists planning to shut down the freeway.” To the credit of the SJPD, they politely asked the protestors their intentions, and when they learned that they had no plans to shut down the freeway, the police let the protestors continue with their action. (At least that’s what I overheard.)

Some samples of the best of the signage:

[This may just become my new sig…]

[The reverse of this sign said “Thank You Cindy Peacemaker Truthteller” — I wasn’t able to get a good shot]

Response from the passing cars was quite heartening; quite a few honks of support, only one jackass yelling support of Bush, to which the group responded “Why don’t you go enlist then?”

Now that I know they’re out there every Friday, I’ll have to show up without my camera and with a sign of my own…

[cross-posted at Daily Kos]

One thing that really sucks about getting older is recognizing names in the obituaries.

I was sitting across the table from the spouse; we were reading the newspapers, a familiar task. I glanced across at him, and saw the name on the page: Lucy Jean Styles was dead.

The name didn’t ring a bell with the spouse, but I knew it very well. She had been a first grade teacher at my elementary school — long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. She wasn’t even my first grade teacher; I’d been in the other first grade class, with Miss Collins.

Let me share with you why I recognized that name…and why it’s affecting me today.

Sherman, please set the Wayback Machine to the 1969-70 school year…

Fifth grade was an exciting year. Not only was it one step closer to junior high, but there was a new teacher on campus…a very handsome teacher. Mr. Aquilina had just moved across country from New York; he brought his wife, his worldly goods,  his love for the Miracle Mets, and some radical ideas to suburban California, radical even for the late 1960s.

One of his radical ideas was that if students were already proficient in a particular subject, it didn’t make sense for them to sit in the classroom getting bored when they could be useful elsewhere. I was above grade level in math — probably from all the math games my older brother played with me. So Mr. A. came up with a plan…and that’s when I started heading down to the first grade classrooms during the math section to help with tutoring.

I started out in my friend Miss Collins’ class; I was basically a floater, going from desk to desk in the well ordered rows as students held up their hands needing help. I had a lot of fun, and I think the kids appreciated someone closer to their own age showing them how to survive addition and subtraction.

After the Christmas break, I switched to the other classroom — Mrs. Styles. I wasn’t that familiar with her, but expected more of the same. I was in for a surprise though.

Mrs. Styles’ students were…a bit behind. If NCLB were around back then, they’d be the ones testing at “below grade level”, and Mrs. Styles would be worrying about her job future. But there was a reason those students were in that class — the administrators knew that by the time they came out, they would be at grade level, or at least a little closer than they were when they came in.

So, the students were a bit below grade level…but there were three girls that were even behind the rest of the class. Those three were my project. I don’t remember their first names, but I do remember being familiar with two of them; their older siblings were in my grade. One of them was a friend of mine — the other was a noted bully, and fat girls (like me) were a frequent target.

When I came in the room, and math class started, I took my own group of three students and went off to the little table in the corner. Mrs. Styles and I put together special workbooks, cutting out pictures of fruits, vegetables, and other everyday items, gluing them onto construction paper and writing the numbers VERY BIG. The girls came to look up to me, and to look forward to math class. I’m not going to pat myself on the back and say that I had anything to do with that…it was the attention they were able to get, more than would be possible in a class of 20+ kids. (I don’t remember what the class size was back then, but in midst of Baby Boom America, it was probably larger than what today’s experts would call optimal.)  But the fact that Mrs. Styles recognized the importance of that personal attention, and that she trusted a fifth grader to provide that guidance, is what I think affected me then and now.

I also got to know Mrs. Styles quite well — I never knew her first name was Lucy; she only went by Jean. She’d come from Tennessee, and still had a trace of accent; as I had relatives in Missouri, I thought it was cute. And we had fun putting together the workbooks, and grading papers together after school (when I didn’t have to run off to Girl Scouts).

I don’t remember how I taught the girls — but I did teach them. They were able to advance with the rest of their class. Oh, and the bully? He stopped picking on me after his sister learned math, and he was one of the most concerned about me when my dad had his heart attack.

So, what’s the point of this? Well, Mrs. Styles never did anything earthshaking; she taught her students for years, and even after she retired kept teaching as a substitute. She even won “Outstanding Substitute of the Year” in 1999, when she was 65, an age when many folks just are packing it in and marking time. But she loved to teach…and it showed in her students. And maybe that’s the point: in the eyes of “the world”, you’re just an ordinary person, but if you have an impact on another person, especially if you do something you love, then you’re anything but ordinary.

Rest in peace, Mrs. Styles…

[cross-posted at:
 Booman Tribune
 My Left Wing
 Village Blue]

Well, not exactly — but there’s an audio reinactment available!

From After Downing Street:

LINK TO AUDIO AVAILABLE FOR USE ON RADIO:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/recreation.m3u

After Downing Street also has list of events and resources for “celebrating” the third anniversary of the meeting that spawned the original memo. It’s worth checking out…

We’ve had a President impeached for lying about a sexual encounter. We’ve got DSM, the Debacle in the Desert, Plamegate, Rove…how much more can this Administration get away with?

[Crossposted on Daily Kos and My Left Wing]

 Just got up (hey, I was awake all night) and turned on the TV for the shuttle launch. But there’s trouble in Paradise.
First, there will be no shuttle launch today. A faulty fuel tank sensor, not the remnants of Hurricane Dennis or the next approaching storm, Emily, caused the countdown to stop about 3 hours before lift-off. As of this writing, no new launch date has been set.

Then, while I was blearily digesting this information, “Flash News” came on the screen; SCOTUS Chief Justice William Reinquist has been hospitalized with a high fever. It’s being called a “precautionary hospitalization”, but a high fever in an 80-year-old man (or woman) isn’t a minor matter. Could this be the preliminary to the expected retirement announcement? It’s possible he was going to announce last Friday, but declined out of deference to the news out of London. (Brief mention here — check the usual suspects like CNN or MSNBC later for more details).

And I thought it was going to be a slow news day…

[Note: As it appears that PastorDan is taking another week off from his Virtual Pulpit, I’m taking it upon myself to fill in again for the weekly prayer/meditation session…]

Blessings and peace to all of you in the name of [insert deity here].

Peace…

What is it?

Where is it?

Whether it be in the deserts of Iraq, the transit stations of Britain, the mean streets of the urban jungle, the virtual thoroughfares of the blogosphere, or in the quiet desperation of our daily lives, peace seems greatly needed…and very distant at times.

I’ve found a series of prayers for peace from varied traditions:

In the quiet of your hearts, please add your own prayers for peace or other petitions; if you wish, please share them with the community in the space below.

Namaste

As PastorDan is off enjoying a much deserved vacation with his lovely spouse, I am stepping into the pulpit to lead the evening rememberance. I only hope I can do it half as well as he does.

O Creator,

help us, as we celebrate the infant steps of the United States of America, to remember those who have lost or been deprived of the unalienable Rights you have endowed us with:

Help us to remember those who have lost their lives:

• the men and women of the armed forces in every nation;
• the men, women and children of Iraq
• the victims of war and terrorism in all places, especially the Middle East, Darfur, Northern Ireland, and all nations;
• the victims of starvation, AIDS, and other disease;
• the victims of street violence in the United States and elsewhere.

[In the silence of your heart remember those in your own circle who have died; if you wish, please share them with us in the comments below.]

O Creator,

help us, as we honor the early fight for liberty, remember those who have lost their own liberty:

• the victims of torture in Guantanamo, Abu Gharib, and other places around the world;
• those who languish in places where there is no due process of law, and those denied due process;
• the innocent who have been convicted unjustly, especially those who face the death penalty;
• the prisoners who have served their debt to society, and yet are denied release;
• those imprisoned by fear, addictions, or greed.

[In the silence of your heart remember those in your own circle who are imprisoned; if you wish, please share them with us in the comments below.]

O Creator,

help us, as we spend time celebrating with family and friends, to reflect on what happiness truly means, and to remember those whose happiness may feel far away:

• those who suffer from poverty, both at home and abroad, as they face a world that places so much emphasis on material goods;
• those with chronic pain, depression, or other debilitating illness, for whom happiness may seem a distant memory;
• those who grieve the loss of friends or family, for whom happiness may have died with their loved ones;
• those in debt, whose pursuit of happiness through material goods has put them in a hole they may feel they will never get out of;
• the wealthy and powerful, who may lose sight of what is truly important in life in their quest for more wealth and more power.

[In the silence of your heart remember those of your own circle who have lost sight of their own happiness; if you wish, please share them with us in the comments below.]

And finally, O Creator,

as we in the United States sing “God Bless America” and other songs, help us to remember that we are not a chosen nation, and that You bless not just America, but the entire world. May we learn to lead by example and not by might.

[In the silence of your heart, add your own prayers for the United States or the country of your choice; if you wish, please share them with us in the comments below.]

Amen, Selah, so be it…

It’s 6:50am on the Left Coast…anyone else up watching?
A brush with fame: Every year, there’s a women’s tennis tournament at Stanford University. It’s had some different sponsors over the years; I think the current title is the “Bank of the West Classic”.

Across El Camino Real from the University property (diagonal from the football stadium, if you’re really interested), there’s a shopping center. Many of the stores are pretty upscale, but at one time, there was a good family restaurant called Stickney’s. (They had a toffee crunch cake to die for!)

The spouse and I went there for dinner one night, and as we were leaving, we saw a tall, very attractive young woman sitting in a corner booth with an older man. I went up to use the restroom while the spouse was paying the bill. As I came out, the spouse said to me, “I think that was Lindsay Davenport!” I took another look, and though I wasn’t super-familiar with the tennis scene, I had to agree with him.

So, for sentimental reasons, I gotta root for Lindsay…