Not so spooky

Bernie likes to sleep on my laundrybag which is nestled in the hallway. It's full of clean clothes I just pull out as I go. Where the bag is, is close to where Henry used to sit on similarly poorly placed blankets and empty boxes. Like Henry, Bernie likes to tear up paper and he likes to get my attention mostly to himself. Food is also his favorite topic of discussion and he has a broad palate, including broccoli -- a favorite of Queequeg's.

Larry sits on one of Karen's chairs, waiting for me to come over and snuggle, very contented and at ease. He climbed that chair in her apartment and it's an old friend with good memories. Like Queequeg, he is very self-contained, except for those moments he spreads out flat on the chair with his paw hanging over, as if reaching for me. Queequeg did something similar, but it was to prepare to scratch me when I wasn't looking for something I had done (such as crossed over him or in his path without proper acknowledgement or permission). Larry monitors my movement throughout the house like Fred, did. He worries about me, though he pretends to be nonchalant. Fred covered his worries with a big appetite.

So, this Halloween is filled with good and many spirits. We three, Larry, Bernie and I, carry many good memories.

Swimming to my MP3 player

For two days straight, at lunch with colleagues whose political knowledge far surpassed mine, I gave up my usual attempt to learn on the fly. I listened to my MP3 player through the whole meal. At one moment, one of my colleagues leaned next to me and said, "Irish music?" "Karen liked it." He nodded. There, I got a lot done:
Avoided showing my ignorance about several politicians I looked up when I got home.
Held my ground on sentiment, romance and bagpipes. Karen usually liked the more adventurous and vocal, but the tone was right. She would understand.

It was a musical pause at lunch with homage to a close friend.

I couldn't take the picture fast enough

Larry and Bernie stood on a piece of furniture. Together. No negative energy. Just sharing the view. And tonight they returned to sharing my bed, sleeping a few feet apart.

BUY NOTHING ON NOVEMBER 6, 2007

It's the national strike against fascism. You can do it. Just buy nothing that day.

Fifteen year old African American girl sentenced to seven years in prison for pushing a hall monitor in Texas

By Tracy Stokes, BET.com News Staff & Wire Services Posted March 28, 2007 -
In Paris, Texas, last year, a 14-year-old White girl burns down her family's home. Her punishment? Probation. In the same town three months later, a 15-year-old Black girl, Shaquanda Cotton, is sentenced to seven years in prison for pushing a hall monitor at her high school. Shaquanda had no prior arrests, and the monitor, a 58-year-old teacher's aide, was not hurt, according to Black leaders in the northeast Texas town of about 26,000 residents. But in March 2006, the same judge, Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville, who let the White teenage girl go on probation, convicted Shaquanda of "assault on a public servant" and sent her to prison at least until she turns 21. Officials at the Texas Youth Commission declined to discuss the case with BET.com, citing Texas law. "State law forbids us from acknowledging whether we have any youths are in our system, despite the 50 million issues of print that's been run," said Jim Hurley, a spokesman for the Texas Youth Commission. "We'd have to break the law to talk about it."

Civil Rights Uproar

While the U.S. Department of Education is investigating the incident, the case has civil rights groups in an uproar. "I don't understand the judge's rationale for his decision," Dr. Howard Anderson, president of the San Antonio Branch of the NAACP, told BET.com. In highlighting what he called an egregious miscarriage of justice in a town with a long history of civil rights abuses, Anderson pointed to the case of the 14-year-old convicted arson (whose name was not released because of her age), who was slapped with probation, and the case of a 19-year-old White man in Paris, convicted of killing a 54-year-old Black woman and her 3-year-old grandson with his truck. The latter, he said, was also sentenced to probation and told to send the family a Christmas card every year. "Then you have Shaquanda's case," Anderson said. "She pushed a hall monitor, and she gets seven years confinement? If I look at all three of these sentences, and I'm not a lawyer, I have to wonder what the judicial system is doing. In this particular case, what is this judge doing?" Gary Bledsoe, an Austin attorney who heads the state NAACP branch, told BET.com that Shaquanda was merely trying to defend herself. "All she (Shaquanda) did was grab the aide to prevent a strike," Bledsoe said. "It's like they are sending a signal to Black folks in Paris that you stay in your place in this community, in the shadows, intimidated."
Sad History

And keeping Blacks in their place is nothing new in Paris, say leaders, who remind that it's the site of the first highly publicized lynching of a Black by a large White mob. In 1893, fugitive Henry White was captured in Arkansas and brought to Paris, where he was tortured and burned alive on a train bed as more than 10,000 angry townsfolk cheered and jeered. Activists say that the Shaquanda sentence is nothing more than a modern-day lynching. Cotton has been incarcerated at a youth prison in Brownwood, Texas, for the last year on a sentence that could run until her 21st birthday. But like many of the other youths in the system, she is eligible to earn early release if she achieves certain social, behavioral and educational milestones while in prison. But according to The Chicago Tribune, officials at the Ron Jackson Correctional Complex repeatedly have extended Shaquanda's sentence because she refuses to admit guilt and because she reportedly was found with contraband in her cell - an extra pair of socks. "She's not admitting any guilt, because she doesn't feel that she did anything," Anderson told BET.com. "Not to mention, who saw the pushing, if it did occur?" Cotton's mother, Creola, who Anderson describes as "strong-willed," said her daughter was singled out because she accused the school district of racism on several occasions. In fact, 12 discrimination complaints have been filed against the Paris Independent School District in recent years. District officials dispute the charges, but the U.S. Department of Education, which is still investigating the case, has reportedly asked the U.S. Department of Justice to get involved.

In 1998, Paris, Texas, was named the "Best Small Town in Texas" by Kevin Heubusch in his book The New Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities.

*****FORWARD THIS ON TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE!!! WE NEED TO BRING THESE INJUSTICES TO LIGHT***** Are you interested in reaching out to Shaquanda? You can write a Letter directly to her at the address below: She also receive mail here:Ron Jackson Correctional Complex,Unit 2, Dorm 4P.O. Box 872Brownwood, Texas 768041125308

The Campaign Subway Ride #1

Most teachers ride the subways to get to work in NYC. Trains go on "rides" as if they were for amusement. I'm not distant enough -- yet -- from believing in the importance of the election to not put my messy shoeprints into this subway car. Overworked metaphors aside, calling anything a "trail" feels fuzzy to me. People are traveling by trains, busses, cars. It's more like an "expedition". Since that is even less visceral to me, I'll stick with "virtual subway ride through the nation." Very New York, but since I can't have the "Have mores" group that George Bush does as his base, I'll stick with the "Have New York" group as my base.

The UFT and the AFT -- our local and national teachers unions came out in support of Hillary this week. Since our unions have proven themselves to be more allies of corporations than the corporeal bodies in their classrooms, this adds to my skepticism of Mrs. Clinton.

Also this week, no viable Democratic candidate -- Hillary, Barack or John E. could promise the troops would be out of Iraq by 2013.

Essentially, on the larger issues, the more visible candidates grow more similar and more disappointing.

I'm sure they will say the requisite things about results, results and a little bit about class size when the time to talk Education comes.

So, I am now opting to look at candidates for "the little things". Who is polite, who is concrete and pragmatic and who seems to run a good campaign.

So far, my vote is for ...Barack Obama. I wouldn't have thought this months ago when I was a staunch Edwards supporter. People have pointed out how Obama makes slightly better linguistic choices in his speeches and seems to connect a bit better than Edwards. I am most convinced by his ability...for what reason I do not know...to understand the "on the ground" pragmatics of the campaign. His grassroots background has made him and his campaign very good and bringing in local support along his virtual subway ride. He has his methods down to personally pointing out where you can sign up to volunteer. See this cleverly written piece by Roger Simon for more details http://www.creators.com/opinion/roger-simon.html

Sounds of a room full of teachers

"Middle school kids will really get you. They'll come right up to you."

"She would dance to teach them conjunctions and they listened. I liked her. She was different."

"Not in my class."

"You have to be patient with kids."

"You can't let them walk all over you."

"In my class, that doesn't happen."

"And the Principal walked in and they pushed him and I didn't like that and I told him so and he laughed it off. I would never allow that."

Everything is an axiom. We're not just defensive. We're downright prophetic. Perhaps we've been so pushed to the wall that we ARE the aged prophets, near blind, coming out of our caves to warn the city of storms ahead.
Or, we've just been banished and are continually hollering from over the city walls.
Or, we feel as if we are about to be.

Where is everybody?

Over the past two years or so, I've gained friends, lost friends, gained friends...

I picked up the phone tonight and thought of a few people I could dial, but the list dwindled rapidly. One I had just spoken to yesterday, one I had seen this afternoon. One's phone was not working.
And there was my mother whom I called and the conversation was brief because we disagree on a great deal.

Five minutes later there was just one friend I have technically borrowed from another friend because he is the roommate of that friend. I mean, he is my friend....

He was at a friend's.

My cat's are sleeping off a round of playing.

I've sent out two cover letters and resumes and am listening to Mike Malloy. The radio will get me through the night and the cats will wake up in an hour.

When did the bus leave?