Category Archives: distraction issues

Fear Itself

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Posted by on in Community, distraction issues, Personal Values, Social

October 9, 2016, Chula Vista-

I did a few errands and cleared out the trash and recyclables, this morning.  The rest of the day revolved around binge-watching of the TV show, “Supernatural”, a throwback to the mid- 2000’s and some reading, of some Baha’i documents and a couple more chapters of “To Kill A Mockingbird”, my early Fall re-read.

I am not watching this evening’s debate.  The guys are both on a group video game, and that makes for enough noise.  I am fully aware, courtesy of Sirius XM, of the controversy about  DJT’s vulgarities- which makes him about 1 1/2 degrees lower than a certain former President of recent vintage.  I am also aware that there are all kinds of accusations about how American women love to read about crassness and sexual proclivities- “except when it involves political conservatives.”

There is way too much fear going around, and it will likely lead people, on both ends of the political spectrum, to make bad choices. The fact is, no one person is going to do much of anything to derail our Constitutional way of governance.  If Congress is hog-tied, even a short-handed Supreme Court is going to step up- and we, the people, have ways- peaceful ways, mind you- of curbing executive excess.  Lyndon Johnson knew this, and pulled out of a re-election battle, in January, 1968.  Richard Nixon grudgingly accepted it, in August, 1974.

Fear is a healthy emotion, when it causes a person to pause, and take the measure of a situation, rather than engage in mindless cliff-jumping.  It is unhealthy, when it leads to paralysis and circular firing squads, such as we are seeing on one side of the political divide, and may see across the board, yet.

I have only one thing to say, regarding vulgar treatment of others:  Two wrongs, or twenty, do not make a right.

Civil Wars

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Posted by on in distraction issues, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 24, 2016, Prescott-  I have two days remaining, in my present assignment.  Next academic year’s work assignment is now at the paper work stage, where it has stalled for a bit.  Unlike previous such situations, this will not lead to me shooting my mouth off about someone trying to freeze me out of a job.  I have a lot more patience nowadays.

Patience, though, seems to be in short supply, in the world at large.  There is, simply put, either an epidemic of extreme fear or one of rampant narcissism, or maybe a mixture of both.    This feature is, of course, being played to the hilt by the forces of distraction.  Witness the turmoil over who gets to use what bathroom.  Some disclosure:  When I was seventeen, and visiting a public restroom in Boston, I was accosted by a gay man, who followed me out of the building and all the way to a telephone booth, thankfully leaving when I closed the booth’s door.

So, I understand the fears of people, which, by the way, are felt by both gays and straights.  No one enjoys being the object of attention, when trying to do their business.  The idea is to void, wash up and leave.  The issue, therefore, is hardly worth the attention it has garnered on social media.  This is one of the distractions on which those with agendas of control are counting.  Ever wonder why an insipid issue is floated by the media, right about the time that people need to be making serious decisions?

We are facing various kinds of “civil wars”, across the U.S., and in many countries around the world.  Consider:

Help refugees vs. Care for the elderly at home.

Enjoy a diet of processed foods vs. Strictly adhere to a vegan diet.

Innoculate with abandon vs. Abstain from any vaccination.

“Black lives matter” vs. “White people are an endangered species”.

I have friends, family and acquaintances galore, on both sides.  I have my own strong opinions, as to each of these issues, but my views, in the present forum, are irrelevant.  I love all of the above people, because God didn’t create junk.  I will say, to those whose beliefs are based upon fear, that the thing that is best for Mankind as a whole is what will end up happening.  None of us is exempt from suffering or discomfort, at some level.

All the same, none of us is doomed to oblivion, but by our own choice, or series thereof.  Even then, God is still loving, and the suffering will end, sooner or later- when the lessons that are needed, are absorbed.  Civil wars need not occupy our time, especially when they are so very futile.

 

 

Trafficking, and Obfuscation

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Posted by on in children, distraction issues, Personal goals, Personal Values

March 24, 2016, Prescott- I watched an episode of a network television show, on my laptop, this evening.  It dealt with the abuse of teenaged girls by a sex-trafficking ring.  The piece was outlandish, on the surface, having, as its antagonists, two powerful members of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy in New York. The piece was fictitious, yet showed how diligent police work, and an appeal to the humanity of a low-level operative in the ring, gave up the culprits.

It was no surprise, though, that during the early stages of the investigation, the ringleaders turned to obfuscation, to role reversal, and smoke-screening, in their attempts to get out from under the encroaching detectives. This is a common modus operandi  of wrongdoers with means.

This stays in my mind, because yesterday I read an article in the Global Post, an online news magazine I have trusted for several years.  The article takes issue with widespread concern over sex trafficking, specifically in the country of Cambodia. The author quotes an “expert”, who has “lived with the sex workers” in that country, as saying that a Cambodian woman who enlisted the aid of U.S. journalist Nicholas Kristoff, in shining a light on the problem of sex trafficking in her country, was exaggerating, had falsified and embellished her reports, and that making human trafficking a cause celebre was, in the case of Cambodia at least, a misrepresentation of the facts.

This is what the powerful do, when their activities, and the income they derive from those, are threatened:  Obfuscate, discredit and go back to business as usual. Maybe there are plenty of women who choose a life of compensated sexual promiscuity, whether out of economic despair or the sense that this is the only way that they will ever know physical intimacy with a man.  They, however despondent their lot, are not the primary focus of those who have taken up the cause of bringing an end to human trafficking.

The shameful attempt by Global Post to becloud this whole matter will never stop those of us who are committed to ending the imprisonment and torture, to which  thousands of women and children are subjected, world-wide, day by excruciating day.  I urge each person reading this to stand up to those beguiled by their own perceived power and authority, and work to free those, in every nation on Earth, who are held in virtual slavery.

The Road to 65, Mile 322: Course Corrections

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Posted by on in collaborating, distraction issues, Education, impediments

October 15, 2015, Chino Valley-  We sat together, at the end of the day, and of the week.  The kids and I agreed that there was too much varied content thrown onto one page of the textbook publisher’s worksheet on perimeters.  We humans don’t, generally, speaking, absorb more than one mental skill at a time.  I will make the necessary adjustment in the lessons, next week.

I knew it would not be long, before I felt like taking the pre-fabricated material, and, like the late Richard Mulligan, in “Teachers”, open the classroom window and toss the useless book out.  I won’t go that far.  The taxpayers’ sensibilities matter greatly, after all.  One of the tenets of good teaching, however, is “monitor and adjust.” I am big on mastery, and will do whatever it takes to bring this about, for as many of the people with whom I work, as possible.

We, as a profession, are under a lot of pressure to provide ready answers to the question of “Why are our students falling behind, in the Great Global Rat Race?”  I have a few, tentative answers to that, which will not make the Testing Industry, or its political sponsors, very happy.  One, which I still remember, from having worked with Korean teachers of English, several years ago, is that many nations’ educational programs are focused on teaching one skill at a time.  That used to be the case here, when I was in school.

Now, however, I see a tendency to throw many concepts and skills together, so as to “hurry up and catch up”, with a perceived Global Mass of superlearners.  Grandma said “Haste makes waste”, and that is painfully obvious, looking in the faces of my still-trusting little ones.  We have to go back and look hard at the most basic level of the skill expected of them- and, yes, they will get it, and extrapolate the rest, one piece at a time- in time for the Great April Acid Test, which the state, in its wisdom, has cast upon us.

The journey of a thousand miles still needs that single step.

The Road to 65, Mile 315: Crowded Out, In An Empty Room

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Posted by on in American Legion, collaborating, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values

October 8, 2015, Prescott- I opted to attend a monthly meeting of the American Legion, this evening, rather than go to another gathering.  As it happened, that was not the best use of my time.  Although I will remain a member of the Legion, and the local post, so as to maintain ties with trusted friends, circumstances have changed.  I am not a member of the inner circle, and so when trying to humbly offer a correction at tonight’s meeting, I was upbraided.  Though my concern was addressed a short time later, it was made clear that “he”, meaning me, was regarded as a nuisance by the leadership.

Thus, tonight’s was my last meeting.  Disorganization is something through which any of us ought to be able to work, but when the disorganized are arrogant and full of themselves, to protest is folly. I find it is far more advantageous for me to use my time towards the building of a solid community foundation.  The alternatives on Thursday night are Baha’i activities and encouraging one or both of the secular friends to whom I alluded in the last post.

There were few people at tonight’s meeting.  From here on, there will be one less.

The Road to 65, Mile 312: Diligence

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Posted by on in collaborating, distraction issues, Education

October 5, 2015, Prescott- Instead of going to a different part of the state for a few days, I am staying in our county and tending to matters both expected and unexpected.  One of the latter is a legal issue, not involving me too directly, at this point.  By doing some editing of this blog site and a few other adjustments, I will keep from being dragged too deeply into it.

I have also made flight arrangements for my visit back East, in December. This, I was able to do rather economically.  That was not always the case, but I have learned much, in the past six years.

Then, there are the preparations for my two-month- and- maybe- longer, stint at the small school where I worked several days, the past two weeks. I will need to spend Friday there, if I can get access, during this vacation week.  As it is, I have a plan for the first few days back, so that’s something.

Life requires diligence, whether at work or at leisure.  There is always some aspect that is beyond fun and games.  Having said this, tomorrow will be a day for hiking in Sedona.

The Road to 65, Mile 309: The Sardine Can

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Posted by on in distraction issues, Education, impediments

October 2, 2015, Prescott-  It seems that some school administrators regard placing large numbers of unsettled people into a classroom, late in the day, as a necessary test of the mettle of classroom teachers.  I disagree.  The classroom is a place of learning, not an arena for adult machismo.

I have yet to meet any child, either adolescent or younger, who truly enjoys being stuffed into a sardine can of a room, regardless of how much he or she seems to get a bang out of causing a disturbance that throws the learning exercise off track. It’s human nature to strive for improvement, just as it’s human nature to strike out at being treated like an afterthought.

These thoughts come to mind, after a particularly difficult end to a generally good day. Dealing with people who were jabbing one another with sharp pens and pencils, and yelling over the soundtrack of a video on a totalitarian State is not my idea of paradise, and truth be known, it is not something I will have to do again, any time soon.  First, the Principal of the school has hired more teachers to reduce the class sizes, and after Fall Break, the school promises to be a more equitable place.  Secondly, I will have only Fridays to offer my services there, as a more permanent job will occupy me, the first four days of the workweek.

My point remains, however, that the only way people, of any age, are going to learn is if those devising the system of learning regard their charges as worthy of the same respect they demand for themselves.  By this, I mean deep learning- not just the cognitive command of facts and data.

The Road to 65, Mile 294: Battles

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Posted by on in distraction issues, Inner Struggles

September 17, 2015,Prescott-

The wounded advance,

Towards the distracted,

equally bleeding foe.

The battle is chimeric,

Quixotic, of unknown origin.

These battles always are,

It seems.

How did we get here?,

Asks the target of his wrath.

What does that matter?,

Snarls the knight errant.

The battle is joined,

and I shall be the victor.

What are the spoils?,

Asks his erstwhile friend.

What does that matter?,

Fumes the attacker.

The battle is joined,

and I will be the victor.

Soon he stood,

Above the prone figure,

Savouring his pile of ashes.

The Road to 65, Mile 291: Pending

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Posted by on in distraction issues, Personal goals, Service Activities

September 14, 2015, Prescott- First, my apologies to friendly readers- Heath Muchena, JoEllen Coney, Starman Jones, Richie Salgado and Michel Fauquet.  I found your lovely comments in my Pending file, which has been ignored even longer than my Flickr site.  I have cleaned it up and approved all of your comments.

I am sad to hear that another Xanga friend, Sister Mae, has died.  She was a rock-solid friend, when I was on the old network.  I hadn’t heard from her, on Xanga 2.0.  Now, I know why.

My new position is three weeks away.  I worked today on a one-day post and will do the same tomorrow. There ought to be several other posts, this week and next, in the run-up to Fall Break, which will see me enjoying a bit of the high country.  I haven’t decided exactly where,yet, but I know it’ll be in-state.

Choices, we make and choices we own.  In accepting the charter school position, I had to decline a Red Cross post.  I think that position will go to someone who has actually worked in Social Services.  Several other changes, vis-a-vis my weekday schedule, will come about, after October 12.  I own those, also.

My erstwhile tendency to walk off and leave things hanging came to me in a dream, last light, with Penny warning me that this is a feature of mine that I should relegate to the past.  Yes, I have made a world of progress, in that respect.  Focus is improving, day by day.

Someone commented this afternoon, that I have “bedroom eyes”.  Yikes!  I thought we had left that term in the scrapheap of shallowness.  Since this person is not within my age-range, I will take it as a misguided compliment, and leave it at that.

It is nice to be appreciated, and it is nice to have a few things- pending.

The Road to 65, Mile 280: Driving in Reverse

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Posted by on in distraction issues, Matters of Faith, Social

September 3, 2015, Chino Valley- I have thought a fair amount about the whole Kim Davis episode.  For those who have been living their bliss to the full, lately, she is the County Clerk, in Morehead, KY, who refuses to grant marriage licenses to gay couples, citing her Christian Faith.  For this defiance of Federal law, she has been jailed.

Thinking people have responded dispassionately to the matter.  I have friends, both gay and straight, who have said that Ms. Davis is getting what she deserves, period, without pontificating on what has been leaked to the public about her private life. I have read other commentary that disparages Kim Davis as a person- going far beyond what seems necessary to support the rule of law.  A commentary I heard on the radio, this morning, goes so far as to raise the matter of the human environment of eastern Kentucky, being somehow a factor in her thought processes.

I have been to eastern Kentucky, to Morehead, Ashland and Maysville, specifically.  I am not especially fond of Hillbilly jokes, any more than I am of disparaging “humour” directed at any particular group.  A professor at Berea College, interviewed this morning, pointed out that people in the mountains and rolling plains of Appalachia are as complex and diverse as people are anywhere else.  I have found that to be so.  There are informed and ignorant folk in any given community, from Uptown Manhattan and Beverly Hills, to the most downtrodden communities in Appalachia or the Mississippi Delta.

Ms. Davis’ issues seem to spring more from stubbornness and fear that her world is being turned upside down (which it is, in many respects), than from a lack of intelligence, or cultural stuntedness.  In that sense, she has plenty of company, all along the political and social spectra.  Attacking members of a given group, for the behaviour of some in the group, is akin to driving in reverse.  Maybe your points will stick, but the likelihood of unforeseen problems is greater.