So tired of this

I am very frustrated with the state of affairs in the U.S. today; this will come as no shock to anyone who knows me. It has taken a particularly nasty turn over the past few days. A dear old friend of mine is very angry with me because I have dared to question the sanity of America's destructive love affair with guns. He says I shouldn't talk about it in the aftermath of Charleston, that it's just playing politics. Perhaps we should spend more time away from these incidents decrying the gun obsession, but we don't. Then, when things like Charleston happen, as they inevitably do in our country, the pro-gun crew try to shush anyone who complains about it. That's how they change the subject.

I have shared this before, but it remains one of the better responses to the gun crisis in America, so I share it again:

Matt Gottschling, a friend from Portland, with whom I had the pleasure of teaching for a couple of years, posted this after another mass shooting a few years ago. It is the most reasonable response I've heard so far.

"A lot of pro-gun advocates use the argument that “vehicles kill people too, and no one talks about banning them”. Okay, let’s treat guns like vehicles. Here’s how:

1. Require those who wish to own a gun to first... obtain a license. They must pass a test, complete a background check, and periodically have to renew their license. First-time gun owners should also have to take a course on gun safety, and how to properly secure their firearms.

2. Those who have conditions that prevent them from safely operating vehicles are not legally allowed to operate vehicles. The same should be true of guns.

3. Require all firearms to be registered. Also, any transactions of firearms (whether sold by a dealer, at a gun show, or by private parties) must include an official transfer of title or bill of sale (just as a vehicle does).

4. Vehicles can not be purchased or operated by the very young, despite the fact that they are not intentionally designed to hurt people. Guns are designed to hurt people, and yet I know many who believe that it is okay for young children to operate them.

5. Vehicles can’t be used everywhere. I can’t drive my car on a sidewalk, in a store, or through a park. Guns should not be allowed anywhere and everywhere. Contrary to what elected officials in my former state believe, guns should never be carried in schools, bars, or college campuses – except of course by law enforcement officials.

6. Vehicles have regulations to ensure their safe operation. Guns should as well. I can’t drive a vehicle that is forty feet wide and seventy feet long – even if it makes me feel empowered and awesome. Guns that serve functions that go well beyond the reasonable uses of “sport” or “self-defense” should not be legal. No automatic or semi-automatic weapons. No extended magazines. No armor piercing bullets.

There's no way of knowing if any of these ideas would prevent a tragedy like the one that occurred yesterday. However, I believe that it is important to fundamentally change our "gun culture" in this nation. I do not believe that it is too soon to have this conversation. If we won't do anything about it in the aftermath of such a stupid and senseless act, then when will we?"

I'd much rather find a way to restrict access to guns, as they did in the U.K. when there was a massacre like this. I don't think that will happen. Maybe I will just keep posting this every time one of these gun massacres happen. At least until there is no one left to read it.

Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.

The world sucks right now

The world is upside down. Arizona, a place I have loved, has lost its soul. In the new AZ, education is bad. Guns and, inevitably, shooting people with them is good. People who look different than you are bad and should be sent away. People who speak a different language than you are bad and should be sent away. People who believe in a different version of God are bad and should be sent away. Rich people are good, but allowing poor people a chance to become rich, or even middle class, is bad. People who love someone that the power brokers don't think you should love is bad. Any idea that comes from somewhere else, particularly east of, say, Houston is automatically bad, so bad, in fact, we should ignore it, despite the clear Constitutional conflict that incurs.

The Republican Party has been overrun by the worst form of reactionary sludge, the so-called Tea Party. These are the people who propagate the nonsense I just detailed. The Republican Party I proudly registered for and of which I was a voting member for nearly 10 years, no longer exists. Stupidity and ignorance is valued. Truth, especially truth with scientific support, is denied. I have been called a terrorist by a previous Secretary of Education and by a 2016 presidential hopeful for the crime of being a public school teacher. I dedicate more of my life to the public service of education than I do to my own family, and I am compared to ISIS. Literally. I am tired of it. I don't even have the energy to fight, outside my own vote.

The bad guys have won. The only time I have been hopeful in my adult life, politically speaking, was on the night of the 2008 presidential election, and the awful Tea Party people ruined that optimism. I am more depressed today than I remember being in a very long time. Politics matters. when the bad people win, bad things happen and the voices of good people are ignored, including the hundreds and thousands who have protested the way things are now. I really don't know what to do. I am usually a positive person, but I am without hope today. I need to go grade 180+ tests, write my lesson plans, and care about all those kids, which makes me Public Enemy Number 1.

Caution: May Contain Liberal Content

I am simultaneously thrilled and horrified to see Eric Cantor lose his seat in Congress. He has been a terrible obstructionist leader, causing immeasurable damage to the United States with his blatant political pandering. For that reason, I am thrilled. On the other hand, the tea party backed candidate who won will likely win the election because, in some very backwards parts of the country, such as large parts of the Deep South and Arizona, people will vote for anyone with an "R" behind their name, regardless of their actual beliefs. The defeat of Cantor over a perceived willingness to work with Democrats on immigration means that the possibility of any action or compromise whatsoever is gone. For this reason, I am horrified.

But, I am also encouraged in a bizarre way. If enough extremists win in the Republican party primaries between now and 2016, as they appear to be doing, the Repubs will be stuck with another unwinnable presidential candidate and another unwinnable national election. This would, obviously, be good for the country, especially if the new and inferior party of no, formerly known as the Republicans, win Congress in November. At least the White House can be a firewall against further tea party idiocy.

Thanks for reading. I'll try to have better news next time.

Just stay home

We went to the Sinagua Middle School beginning band/choir/orchestra concert tonight. Of course, the kids were great - voice cracks, reed squeaks, honks, string screeches, and all - but I think I can safely say I have never been in a group of people who were more rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate, unpleasant people. Let's take roll, shall we?

Sick and screaming 2-year old? Here for some reason.

Mom of said 2-year old who is too busy talking to her friend to attend to the child? Present-ish.

Parents who both spent the entire time looking at their phones, pausing only to shout "you da man!" like a drunken golf fan between each piece? Yo.

The child of the above parents who thinks we are at a track meet? Here. And gone. And here. And gone.

Grandmother who is hard of hearing and carries on a conversation through the entire concert at a volume more appropriate for a KISS concert? HERE!!!

Innumerable people wandering the aisles before, during, and after each piece? Definitely here.

I am so frustrated with my fellow humans right now. If you aren't here to listen to the concert, please, for the rest of us, stay home!

Sorry I'm so grumpy. Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.

"Don't talk back to me, alright?!" - Randy Johnson

This morning I have come across a number of news stories, etc. and I have violated my own rule about not reading the comments. Already this morning, I have seen comments psychoanalyzing the author of an article, questioning the author's bias in a completely apolitical piece, and arguing with Dear Abby! What is going on?!

Actually, I know the problem. People have very much bought into the foolishness of the current media obsession known as "join the conversation." Actually, don't. I don't want to read about your problems, politics, or opinions when I'm reading the sports or news or an advice column. If you want to write about it on your Facebook, or Tweet about it, or even blog about it (I know: who does that anymore?) then go right ahead. That's why those forums exist. Unfortunately, the comments section of most every website is a cesspool of stupidity, in which you can find the rhetorical equivalent of "You're a big dummyhead!" "I know you are but what am I?" played out for public consumption.

If you want to read opinions, turn to the editorial section of a newspaper or website. But do everyone a favor: don't "join the conversation."

Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.

Passing of a friend

Today is coming to a close in an unexpected fashion, with the news that an old friend has passed away.  Mike Cole was one of the first people I remember knowing after I moved to Show Low when I was 6 years old. We were friends throughout our time in school, especially when were in CCD and CYO together.  Along with Joe Prust, we were the Three Catholic Musketeers for years.  I remember spending the night at Mike's house a few times. We annoyed his sister, Tricia, and wandered around Fools Hollow, even at night.  I wasn't as close to Mike as I was years ago, and I was never as close as many of my old Show Low friends were, but Mike was my friend.

I have lost family members, even recently.  I have lost people I looked up to and even idolized. I have been there with friends when they were grieving their losses, and I have watched as my role models growing up have left this life. This is the first time anyone I ever considered a close friend has passed away, however. I can't say I am dealing with it well, although there isn't a particularly good way to deal with loss. I miss the people I grew up with, I miss the life I lived when Mike and I were friends, and tonight I am missing Michael James Cole. Rest in peace, my friend.

Religion and baseball. Really.

Watching the Diamondbacks game tonight and I saw a really bad call, which is having some impact on the game.  I'm not sure why, but it suddenly struck me that the situation was distressingly similar to some issues with the church.  It really isn't even much of a stretch.

One of the things that bugs me most about baseball is its reluctance to just make changes that need to be made.  They knew about steroids for years before they addressed the problem.  They complain about the length of games but they won't enforce rules to speed up the game.  And, in the most glaring example, they won't address the issue of replay in a timely manner.  Umpires are not allowed to review anything outside a very narrow band of calls.  The review tonight would have taken ten seconds, but the powers that be are more interested in following some rule than they are in getting it right.

This is where the similarity to the church comes in.  Too many church leaders are interested in following some rule about who can get married, etc., and they are totally disinterested in doing what is right for actual human people.  This bothers me more daily in two of my favorite institutions: Major League Baseball and the church.

Thanks for reading.  I'll try to do better next time.