Bits And Pieces

I am not an Adam Sandler fan. His comedy is usually to juvenille. I have seen some moments in a few movies that show an actual talent for acting, but mostly I just leave the room when one of his movies makes it to our TV screen.

But there's one, that I'm almost embarassed to admit I like. Well, so, ok, it's one of my all time favorite movies: 50 First Dates. And mainly it's because the end makes me cry every single time. It is the most romantic gesture in all the romantic movies I have ever seen.

I am, however, partial to Drew Barrymore.

Posted by Melissa at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, please, someone tell me what is the freakin' point of exile in ancient literature!

Taking a semester off from my own school work and helping Thomas with his. The prof is so stuck on exile as a theme, he can't see anything else, and it's just stupid anymore.

(Reread that sentance and check out that little linguistic beauty)

Posted by Melissa at 9:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OMG! its bn 3 mos since my lst pst. tht sx bg tm!

Remember way back when you were growing up and VCRs were new? The big joke was that the kids could program it to record better than the parents who’d bought it. It was like that at my house, too. Which led me, a girl, to be more technologically-minded than even some of my male peers.

Computers came easy, too. For a while, there I was on a super track to success in the technological world. I had some basic programming skills, excellent word processing skills (even without spellcheck!) and could even take apart a computer and add hardware.

But then, two things happened: 1) I didn’t own or have access to a computer more than minimally for ten years and 2) the technological world zoomed past and left me so far back I couldn’t even see the dust.

Now, I feel very much like my parents with the VCR. My four-year-old is adept with the DVD player and DVR remote. OK, so I am the one who hooks up everything, the one who shows my husband the tips and tricks to using a cell phone to its fullest potential, and the one who loads the MP3 players with songs, pics and video. So what? I’m the parent who, in a few years’ time, will be the one wondering what the hell my son is texting to me.

What kills me, is that I’m not that far removed from the Net generation. Gen X is the one who came up with most of this stuff. (Still can’t figure out Gen Y’s contribution.)

So, as a student of linguistics, I’m interested in this phenomenon. But as a child of the father who stressed “proper” grammar, I’m struggling. Part of me can study textlingo with objectivity and understand (even if it is hard sometimes) that there are no “improper” languages only dialects. Another part of me screams, cut it out! Capitalize the damn “I,” it’s not that hard.

I take pride in the personal choice not to degrade myself with completely random spellings and proper punctuation. I still feel as if I am not true to myself if I get lazy when texting or IMing, which, of course, leads to lengthy communiqué. So what, I’m different and proud to be so. However, perhaps it is time to learn a new language.

This objectivity doesn’t keep me from being appalled at the liberties these little teeny-boppers are taking with the language. Plus, the fact that some teachers are allowing this stuff in papers really ticks me off. If we are to allow this new writing system, can’t we make it understood that there is a time and a place?

Perhaps we as parents and teachers should stress the art of writing to the audience while honing the skills it takes to fit in. You know, “proper” (standardized) grammar when say, talking to a judge. And that it’s OK to use expletives with your peers, but not their parents.

Here’s a question for all those liberals out there: Would this emphasis put too much pressure on kids just finding themselves? Or is the chameleon-like flexibility a good skill to teach? Is this asking too much from parents who “don’t have time” to really teach their kids?

Posted by Melissa at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Get this: for a higher education, you can fill out a general Texas College Admissions form online, email it to the school of your choice and send in whatever fee they ask for, if any. You know the requirements and you know if you'll get in or if you have to do anything extra to get in (like see the admissions councelor). This is for a higher education that people get by choice, it's not federally or state mandated.

However, for public education for grades K-12 . . . (what a freakin' pain!)
Here we have a few tables and it's pretty much mapped out. You go stand in line for a couple of hours watching people leave the line angry because they didn't bring the right proof of address form or don't have the child's SS# memorized. Parents don't get past the first table without the "right" proof of address. A phone bill or insurance card will not work. It has to be a utility bill. So many people are deleted from the line from the get go.

The next table is the nurse. The child has to have the shots prior to the first day of school. And please don't forget the last three that were added by law within the last two weeks. (Sheesh! I speak English and I didn't know that. - Keep in mind, we're at a bilingual public school where those that don't speak English are catered to so that takes more time to get the translator to go between the first two tables and explain the same things two to three times for one parent.)

Anyway, after a couple more tables, there's a packet of paper work to fill out. I probably wrote down my name and adress about six times! Oh, that's just for one returning student, my oldest.

Add in the neat little hoops you have to jump through to qualify my next child for Pre-K, which is a whole other story. We have to meet requirements that are not going to be reviewed until Monday, yet, I find out at the last minute without the required papers (ie, birth certificate, SS card, etc.) we can't complete the process until I hand the school copies of what basically amounts to proof that my child exists.

I could go on and on about the insanity of this process. As it is I just touched on a few points, but really, if you pay you don't have to prove that you exist? But for legally mandated school attendance the parents have to jump through so many hoops they start to wonder if it's really worth it.

OK, maybe for those who see school as free childcare, maybe a few papers once a year is better than $100 min. per child per week in daycare.

But I always thought that school was a place to learn. That's what I'm teaching my children.

Posted by Melissa at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mr. Kerry said that a president couldn’t run a country with morality in the forefront. Mr. Kerry said that while he is a Catholic and has certain moral convictions, it is not up to him, were he president, to inflict those morals on the US.

OK. This superficially makes sense. I understand where he’s coming from. Why piss off an entire country by not being PC. (Obviously the PC movement has not died. It is still restricting what ought to be said and done in the name of diplomacy.)

What I don’t understand is how moral convictions can be swept under the rug by not only a Presidential Candidate, but by a country founded on moral convictions.

This country didn’t begin by world-wide appeasement. The United States of America is founded on moral convictions. Morality is so imbedded in this country it is in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the great monuments that define us. Morality is found everywhere, from our money to our Pledge of Allegiance. It is carved in the walls of our justice system and just plastered all over Washington D.C., the very center of our government.

I understand that there are a few out there who want to take the word “God” from our money, our pledge, etc. Those few are taking our foundations apart one brick at a time. Has anyone else out there noticed what happened when prayer was taken out of school? We’ve become so PC, so diplomatic that instead of inflicting morality, we are inflicting metal detectors. If we give them time and a willing president, how long will it take until this country is literally taken apart piece by piece?

www.msnbc.msn.com

BUSH: The president is an evangelical United Methodist who says he has been "born again," a theology that under girds many of his basic policy positions. He says he regularly seeks guidance from God and opposes movements to remove religion from public life.
KERRY: Under pressure from Catholic leaders because of his support for legal abortion, Kerry has said it is important to stand up for separation of church and state. He says his decisions as president would be guided by his "obligation to all the people of our country and to the Constitution of the United States.” His campaign’s religion adviser, the Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a California atheist who challenged the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
(Am I the only one who sees the contradiction here?)

Posted by Melissa at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Once again, I'm being lazy and printing someone else's words. But I thought these were some good points. It really is hard to keep everything straight in your head. But what if someone could take all the facts and make them as short and sweet and understandable as this?

"I'm trying to get all this political stuff straightened out in my head so I'll know how to vote come November. Right now, we have one guy saying one thing. Then the other guy says something else. Who do we believe? Lemme see . . .have I got this straight?

Clinton awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Yugoslavia - good...
Bush awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Iraq - bad...

Clinton spends 77 billion on war in Serbia - good..
Bush spends 87 billion in Iraq - bad...

Clinton imposes regime change in Serbia - good...
Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad...
Clinton bombs Christian Serbs on behalf of Muslim Albanian terrorists- good...
Bush liberates 25 million from a genocidal dictator - bad...

Clinton bombs Chinese embassy - good...
Bush bombs terrorist camps - bad...

Clinton commits felonies while in office - good...
Bush lands on aircraft carrier in jumpsuit - bad...

No mass graves found in Serbia - good...
No WMD found Iraq - bad...

Stock market crashes in 2000 under Clinton - good...
Economy on upswing under Bush - bad...

Clinton refuses to take custody of Bin Laden - good...
World Trade Centers fall under Bush - bad...

Clinton says Saddam has nukes - good...
Bush says Saddam has nukes - bad...

Clinton calls for regime change in Iraq - good...
Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad...

Terrorist training in Afghanistan under Clinton - good...
Bush destroys training camps in Afghanistan - bad...

Milosevic not yet convicted - good...
Saddam turned over for trial - bad...
Ahh, it's so confusing!

Every year an independent tax watchdog group analyzes the average tax burden on Americans, and then calculates the "Tax Freedom Day". This is the day after which the money you earn goes to you, not the government. This year, tax freedom day was April 11th. That's the earliest it has been since 1991. Its latest day ever was May 2nd, which occurred in 2000. Notice anything special about those dates?

Recently, John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans are actually paying more taxes under Bush, despite the tax cuts. He gave no explanation and provided no data for this claim.

Another interesting fact: Both George Bush and John Kerry are wealthy men.Bush owns only one home, his ranch in Texas. Kerry owns 4 mansions, all worth several million dollars. (His ski resort home in Idaho is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces. Not your average A-frame).
Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid $90,000. Does that sound right? The man who wants to raise your taxes obviously has figured out a way to avoid paying his own."

Posted by Melissa at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

{Here is one of those rare FWDs that I actually agree with:}

It is time for the majority to rule!

Samuel Thompson wrote: I don’t believe in Santa Claus, but I’m not going to sue somebody for sing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December.

I don’t agree with Darwin, but I didn’t go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.

Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game.

So what’s the big deal? It’s not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts.

They’re just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.

“But it’s a Christian prayer”, some will argue. Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles, and we are in the Bible Belt. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect, somebody chanting Hare Krishna?

If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.

If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.

If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn’t be offended. It wouldn’t bother me one bit. When in Rome . . .

“But what about the atheists?” is another argument. What about them?

Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We’re not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. IF that’s asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of earplugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer. Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don’t think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world’s foundations.

Christians are just sick and tire of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Out parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us just to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying. God help us.

And if that last sentence offends you, well . . . . . just sue me.

The silent majority has been silent too long. It’s time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard, that the vast majority don’t care what they want….it is time the majority rules!

It’s time we tell them, you don’t have to pray, you don’t have to say the pledge of allegiance; you don’t have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right. But by golly you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back and we WILL WIN! After all, the God you have the right to denounce is on our side!

God bless us one and all, especially those who denounce Him. . . . God bless America, despite all her faults. . still the greatest nation of all.

{I have no idea where this originated, or who wrote it to give them credit. But this is what I’ve been saying since prayers were taken out of schools. Did anyone notice when we stopped praying at school we started installing metal detectors?}

Posted by Melissa at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tim,
I’ve been thinking about your blog ( tim.lawver.net ) for the past couple of days and thought my answer was too large for a mere comment. Remember that this is just opinion from life experience. I pray to God that things aren’t like this everywhere. If it is, then America’s government truly sucks and the only thing to recommend it is the freedom we have to make it suck even more.
What I want everyone to think about are people like us. I’m a stay at home mom. No insurance there. Thomas works for the city. Excellent insurance. The fact that they change the company once a year doesn’t bother me in the least. It’s always good. I don’t know that many people who can have a baby and walk out paying only $150. The fact that insurance costs go up about 5% each and every year is something to think about. Add in the fact that the city gives Thomas a 3% raise to cover it. I have no idea how that’s supposed to make such a large difference, but that’s the government for you.
Now, think about what would happen to us and three kids if something happened to Thomas. Take a little thing like loosing his job. Sure, there’s COBRA, if we’re willing to pay more than we were for less than we had for a limited amount of time.
Then take it a little further. What if there’s an accident and he can’t go back to work? There are high medical costs in that particular situation. (BTW, it’s already happened to another family in the same department as Thomas.) How do I take care of my entire family with no college degree or current work experience?
In the places that I have lived, there is no agency working for me. There is no way of knowing exactly which government agencies would help. No one teaches you this stuff. Plus, those agencies that are there to help have loopholes to keep you out if you’re white and at the edge of poverty level. We’re just like almost every family I’ve met here with only a few benefits that I’ve searched for. It’s up to me to help us out. No one else will. Even if there was an agency devoted to helping people find government help, it feels like they only help those they want to. (I have several controversial opinions on that!)
Case in point, WIC. I know it isn’t medical, but it is preventative and a study in how those wonderful government agencies help. In theory, we qualify. However going down there is a different story. They have several ways of crunching the numbers to get a family on. I’ve seen this happen. They stand there and work the numbers until it looks good enough on paper. But for us, they work the numbers so that we fall a couple hundred dollars over. They say when you call that they don’t use gross pay. They do when it suits them, trust me. (Ask Stacey how they treat her. She’s in a different state.)
Of course, there are agencies for kids and pregnant women. But ask anyone on the street. Could they tell you where to find that help? Not even my doctor’s office has information on anything but WIC. If they do, they assume that we’re well off. I’m white, (hopefully) well dressed, and have nice, well-dressed children. My husband works. Therefore, I don’t have to. They don’t think that I don’t work because we couldn’t afford childcare if I did. They don’t think that it’s a financial choice. They think it’s a financial option. Why help someone who doesn’t look like they need help?
My point it, yes; you are missing an entire group. The government is missing an entire group. America fights to help everyone but Americans. We give, give, give, and have nothing left to help the millions of families that fall through the cracks. All of our money goes to help people that aren’t even here legally. You’re not thinking of all those who were born here, follow all the rules and still get pushed down for some reason or another.
There’s also those people for whom it’s a matter of pride. Believe me, I’m fighting the urge to say, “Help? I don’t need no skinkin’ help to feed, clothe and house my family.” Then I look at one of Thomas’ paychecks. Medicare? We pay for the stuff, but can’t get it. Social Security? Even if it is there when we need it, we couldn’t live off $200(estimate) a week now. With the cost of living rising the way it is what makes the government think we could live off of that in twenty or thirty years? So, if we’re paying for all this government help, shouldn’t we get a little in return? That’s logical, practical even. However, my father would not apply for government help if he were on his deathbed. The government did not help my grandparents when they lost the farm. (Literally, by the way.) In fact, the IRS came and pretty much attacked them.
There are so many people out there that need help in so many ways, not just medical. But half of them won’t ask for help, and the other half has no clue there’s help out there. The only ones who do are the ones who take advantage of it to the extent that those little government agencies can’t possibly help everyone.
One last thought: Do you think that you see all the people who actually need medical attention? What about the homeless who are afraid to go into “The System”? What about those who truly can’t afford it? They’ll bring their kids in, sure. I know that I would not go in for something I could take care of at home or live through until it gets better. Even now when my insurance is so good, I haven’t been to the doctor since my last post-natal check up. And I’m supposed to go in every six months because of “concerns”. Don’t just think about degenerates. Think about hard-working families that despite all they do just cannot seem to get ahead. (For some people, the $10 it takes to get one immunization shot is a cost they would rather live without, especially when an infant needs up to three shots every two-three months. Thirty dollars doesn’t seem that much in the face of losing a child to a disease that could have been prevented. However, take thirty dollars from a $60 or $90 food budget that feeds a family of four or five. Think about the other costs of having a child. Diapers, a necessity, can run up to $100 a month for an infant. Formula for those who can’t breastfeed or need the supplement can run up to $200+ a month. Thirty dollars is a lot of money for what on the surface doesn’t look like much of anything.)

Posted by Melissa at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)