What Got To Me Today? Something good: I'm a Weeble!

Today I found out I am a Weeble.  Now, to someone from a younger generation that might not sound so great.  And for someone from my generation who knows what a Weeble is, they might be thinking, "Are you sure you want to be a Weeble?  Bottom-heavy and all?

Yes! Yes! Yes!  Today I met a terrific, energetic, smart businesswoman named Julie.  We had never officially met, but turns out we mirror each other on many levels, but especially on our determination to be optimistic, and to "keep on keepin' on" no matter what.

Anyone who knows me knows I am outrageously optimistic, always looking on the bright side.  Unlike someone from the other end of the personality pole, I see obstacles as opportunities, and then I make use of them.  I am never really down for very long when facing a problem, it's just that my being down consists of trying to find ways to get up.

Anyway, all of this self proclaimed Ms. Sunshine stuff brings me back to the Weeble.  For those who don't know, Weebles were like the original "Little People" you see now made by Fisher Price.  They were egg-shaped little people, with weights in the bottoms, so anytime they tipped over, they bounced right back up.  The commercial jingle was "Weebles Wobble but they don't fall down!".

So, this woman I met today is a Weeble, because she shares the same positive characteristic/personality traits I do.  And as she pointed out to me today, I'm a Weeble too.   So I think I'll proudly add that to my resume: "Professional Writer and Big Time Weeble".

What Got To Me Today Series: Student tasered at Ypsilanti High

So I'm reading an article on Friday about a 17 year old kid who was tasered at Ypsilanti High School because he was "unruly" while being escorted to the Principal's office. 

REALLY?

I had to go back and make sure I had read all the details and wasn't missing anything. 

Surely the deputy escorting him must have needed to taser in self-defense, right?  WRONG.  Nothing mentioned about that in two different news publications.

Surely the student was armed with a weapon, right?  WRONG.  No weapon mentioned.

Okay, then surely school administrators realize that tasering is only to be used as a last resort short of discharging a firearm, right?  WRONG, obviously.

Tasers, or stun guns, are weapons that look like pistols. Instead of discharging bullets, tasers send an electric charge.The electrical current then, disrupts electric signals sent from a subject's brain to his muscles, rendering him to a state of temporary paralysis.

The use of tasers by police (let alone high school deputies) has been a controversial one.  Tasers cause extreme pain and loss of balance. In some cases they cause vertigo, seizures, skin or muscle damage, cardio problems and death.

According the the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT), tasers have been added to the list of punishments deemed torturous based on the following definition of torture:

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

– Convention Against Torture, Article 1.1

I'm going to need to hear something a lot more threatening than "unruly" before I can get my head around tasering a 17 year old child.  Back before tasers were the norm in some schools, this kid would have taken his "unruliness" and stormed right out of the building.  The parents would've been called, and the student would face some kind of disciplinary action upon returning to school.

Hmmm...what kind of disciplinary action would be appropriate for a school administrator to implement?  Detention?  Suspension?  Expulsion?  An electric shock with enough current to disrupt all voluntary control of a 17 year old's muscles?

It must now be illegal for a teenager to rebel against authority.  Perhaps he should have been arrested for not going to the Principal's office.  Actually, I'd be able to understand the incident better if I knew this student had done something against the law.  Did he pull a knife?  Was he out of control on narcotics? Were there assault charges?  Absent of legal charges or a threat of weapons, I'm going to have to side against the deputy in this instance. 

These are our children.  And though it is true a seventeen year old child can be tried as an adult in a court of law, let me say again, no law appeared to be broken here.  This young man is someone's child and he was electrically shocked at school, a place we trust our kids will be taken care of.  I know many people will say "no harm done" or "thats what he gets" (as one facebook commenter on the story posted), or "well perhaps my good child is safer because the bad ones get tasered."

REALLY?

Tasers are weapons.  Is it really in our children's best interest for authorities to err on the side of violence?  Is it really in our child's best interest to set an example of weapon use?  To teach them the only way to resolve a dispute is by shocking the hell out of them?  As parents, do we really want "fear of tasering" to be motivation for good behavior? (I can probably source about a dozen psychology books that go up against this one!). I'll go on the record here that fear and anxiety of physical harm are not condusive to a postive learning environment.

Is this the kind of behavior we want from our authority figures,  as examples for our children?

This parent says no.

What Got To Me Today Series: Law & Order writers open eyes to Women of Congo

It is impossible to look at the above photo and not feel something for this woman, her child on her back, running for her life.  Not only does she run from an explosion, from war, but most certainly she is running in fear from the rebels themselves, who did the bombing.  She is running because she knows what they will do to her and her child when they catch her. This woman and millions like her are running everyday, today, right now.  Appallingly, most people don't  know about them because the violence facing these women is too horrific to even think about. But thanks to some excellent women writers of Law & Order SVU, millions of Americans got a glimpse last night.

Most people, at one time or another, have caught an episode or two of Law & Order or one of it's spin-offs, either Special Victims Unit or Criminal Intent.  If you are familiar with Law & Order, you know they often pull their story lines right from current headlines, whether it's a big Supreme Court decision or some sultry sex scandal. They always twist it up a bit, so we don't know the outcome, but surely we are familiar with the content.

Last night, the writers of Law & Order SVU did something extraordinary.  Writers Christina M. Torres and Dawn DeNoon took an episode entitled "Witness", and used it to open mainstream eyes to the ongoing, mind blowing atrocities facing the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  I'm sure there are some viewers who know about the conflict going on in Congo, but I bet millions do not.  I am giving some serious kudos to Ms. Torres and  Ms. DeNoon for bringing such important subject matter to mainstream America.

Conflict in Congo between  Rwandan-Congolese joint military operations and Rwandan Hutu Rebels is ongoing.  Women and children are used as objects of war, subject to torture, mutilation and sexual violence. Often these acts are commited in front of the women's husbands and family. Once attacked, a woman is considered to bring shame on her family and she is outcast.  Some women die, some run to the jungle and try and find camps for survival.  Camps are often also raided by rebels, unable to give protection to the women and they are attacked all over again.

I feel very strongly about these women, and the attempts to bring awareness to them and their plight. Thank you to the writers for bringing this headline back into the limelight.  There are many organizations trying to help these women.  Three of my top favorites are www.womenforwomen.org, www.refugeesinternational.org and www.congowomen.org.  Please visit these websites to learn more about these women, our sisters.  See photos and read more about what goes on in their lives and how you can help them.  With the current economy, financial support is difficult, however there is one bigger thing we can do to help and that is to raise awareness.  Ms. Torres and Ms. DeNoon did just that, and you can too. Thank you.

What Got To Me Today? Education around the world--no chances for kids

So per usual, I was listening to a story on NPR this morning, talking about education in other countries.  I only caught the end of the story, but it was enough to rile me up a bit.

The story was about the school system in Jamaica. They are a billion or so shy of what they need for all of the kids to be properly educated.  This leaves them with two high schools in particular areas.  One school is well funded and is full of resources, a terrific institution where kids can learn and reach higher achievement, college and great paying, professional jobs.  The other is a high school with no money, no resources, where the kids barely get by, and wind up in a trade or not getting work at all if and when they graduate.

So, the question is, how do they decide which kids go where?  And this blew me away... when students are in 6th grade (so like, age 12ish?) they are tested on academics.  Those with higher scores go to the resourceful school, those with lower scores go to the underfunded school.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  At age 12, kids are destined to be successful or not for the rest of their lives?  At age 12, kids give up their dreams of being teachers or doctors or businessmen and women because they blew a test?  Do you know how many tests I have flubbed?  Do you know I graduated with a 3.8 but scored abominably on my ACT and SAT?  Not all people, despite their intelligence, score highly on tests.

Later in the day, after discussing this story with others, I learned Jamaica isn't the only country to predetermine a person's (a young person's!) life profession by testing.  Jordan does it.  Many countries do it. 

Then, of course, I'd be remiss to not mention countries like Afghanistan, where in some areas girls aren't allowed an education at all.  If they do attend, it is secretive and illegal, and if they are caught the consequences severe.

We may be having a tough time with our educational system in this country, for sure here in Michigan.  The budgets are super tight, and painful cuts are being made.  But after hearing stories about the young kids in Jamaica and around the world, I have to tell you, I've never been more grateful for our schools, even the ones with leaky roofs and crumbling bathroom tiles. At least we have a system in place, though imperfect, where kids can dream of their futures, and find the resources to get them there.

What Got To Me Today? Deliciously smelly books!

In honor of March is Reading Month, I profess to you my love of books. I love reading them and writing them, seeing them, smelling them....yes, smelling them.  It's the smell of a brimming bookstore where the glue is still fresh.  It's the stuffy, musty smell of used bookstores where there is a story behind every story.  It's the combination of books, carpet and heated up computer monitors in the library. Books are delicious!

I like the feel of the pages...even more, the sound a page makes when you turn it.  Or the "whoomp" of a hard cover when you slam it closed after reading the final page. I like the way they stack on my shelf, bedside floor, or are strewn across my son's room.

Speaking of kids titles, there is always that one story that was a favorite of my childhood, The little House by Virginia Lee Burton.  My dad used to read it to me every dental visit, or a new favorite I share with my child like Kiss Goodnight Sam by Amy Hest.  I still have saved, in my top drawer, each of my boys favorite chunky little board books, complete with teeth marks (and my boys are now 7 and 14!).  And speaking of teens, I love it when my teenage son and I read the same mega books, and then break them down into detailed discussions.

I like the anticipation of a new book by a favorite author, so much so its been pre-ordered and you can't wait for the release date.  One like that for me is The Swan Theives by Elizabeth Kostova.  I so, so, so, loved her historical fiction novel The Historian, that I'm just beside myself that I haven't read Swan yet!

I even love cookbooks, with chocolate stains on the pages, or cookies recipes where the pages are a little stuck together from floured and brown sugared fingers.

And with my love of books, comes an appreciation for the electronic type of books like the Kindle.  I don't have one yet, but if ever my career keeps me traveling (it's going to happen!), it would be nice to be able to have several of my favorite titles with me...without having to lug them, knowing my precious, smelly, paper, hard copies are waiting for me at home.

And what about audio books?  I, for one, have a hard time reading in the car...makes my eyes all dizzy.  A good audio book takes the "long" part out of "long ride", and there are a ton of books the entire family would like, especially mysteries.

So...do you get me?  I love books.  Paper versions are my favorite, but any version will do in a pinch. I know there are others who feel as I do about books.  I also know there are many who don't get it at all, who read only newspapers and web reports.  That's good too, especially for informational purposes, I just mourn for the adventures you are missing.

If you've got any faves out there you'd like to share, please leave a comment below. I'm always looking for recommendations of books people think are worth reading.  But really, in some way , to someone, aren't they all worth reading?

Guest Blog!

Hi eveyone!  This column was forwarded to me...and it's right up my alley.  POSITIVE. POSITIVE. POSITIVE.  Enjoy!  It's by Jeffrey Livermore of Walsh College.

           

                Almost every morning on my drive to work, I see one of my neighbors walking his dog. Rain or shine these two are out every morning touring the subdivision.

            The dog looks like any other dog taking a morning walk, except that this dog only has three legs.

            At first this dog and its owner caught my eye, but then I got used to their morning walks and they blended in to the scenery.  I didn’t give the three-legged creature a second thought until one day it hit me that we could all learn some valuable business lessons from this dog.

            The three-legged dog did not need constant rewards to get out and go for a walk.  So many of us have been conditioned to expect constant praise and rewards for everything that we do that we are disappointed when we don’t receive them.  Between helicopter parents and video games that hook players by constantly rewarding them with virtual prizes and elevations of game rank, we have raised a generation of young people that expects their employers to constantly praise and reward.

            Some workers expect a constant stream of promotions and rewards or they will jump to an employer that they feel will properly recognize their contributions. This is not realistic in most work environments.  We need to be like the three-legged dog and walk because it is good for us and beats lying around on the floor waiting for someone to pet us.

            The dog seems to love walking through the snow and slush that we have received so much of in the last month.  The dog doesn’t appear to complain or balk at walking early in the morning. He maintains a good pace and walks for the sheer enjoyment of it.  Many workers only see the dark side of their job and complain constantly. Rather than complain, we should all be more like the three-legged dog and just be happy in our jobs.  In today’s economy, people with jobs should be grateful that they simply have a job.

            I have a dog of my own that has four feet that I have often compared her to the three-legged dog.  With four healthy legs, my dog does not like to go outside in the snow.  The three-legged dog doesn’t use her lack of a fourth leg to stop doing what she enjoys. Rather than make excuses not to do something, this dog finds a way to make it happen.  The husky has learned to use the tools he has to get the job done.  Many of us ignore opportunities because we feel that we need more resources to attempt to grab the brass ring.  Instead of jumping in and chasing it, we turn ourselves into spectators.

            Please don’t conclude that I am asking a three-legged dog to be my life coach.  I am simply turning to learn from others and find inspiration to improve my life. Inspiration is all around us.  There are people succeeding in business and their chosen professions all around us. We need to learn from others and see what they are doing to achieve their success.  If we learn good habits, skills, and attitudes from others while losing the things that are holding us back, we can all achieve great things.

            The trying economy means that new and different opportunities are out there. If we maintain a positive attitude and don’t let anything hold us back, we might all be in a better position.  

          

What Got To Me Today (last night)? COMCAST Interrupting Olympics

I've just about had it with Comcast.  Last night during the Olympic coverage, after we've waited all night for our U.S. Gold Medal contender Evan Lycocek to perform, just as he's about to do the most difficult jump of his program...Comcast breaks in for an Emergency Broadcasting Test.  Yep, at 11:15 pm.

Why at 11:15?  Why during Olympic coverage?  Even if Olympics weren't on it would have been in the middle of Breaking News during the nightly newscast.  Why not 3:15 am or 4:45 am? 

I don't get it.  I have worked in radio.  I know all about EBT's.  What I don't know is who is making the flipping decision as to when to run them?  Whoever it is needs a wake up call...a very early, inconvenient, interrupting, loud, buzzing, obnoxious wake up call.