The 2008 Memories

This task of choosing representative moments of a year, and writing a cheery comedy piece is almost impossible. But I'll write a few things that struck me today looking over a shoulder after taking my daughter back to college...ugh.

For best series 2008 of jaw dropping articles 2008 I think I really will go with the Philly Enquirer keeping us up to date on the EPA.

I have been reading about these awful baby monitors at the insistence of my mother. At 80 plus she's not easily dissuaded by a "sure I saw it," so she prints everything and tapes it over my computer. I can't do that for you. You'll have to follow this link. But this can spur you into thinking about a love of "scientific study." I once wondered if a cockatiel could eat avocado and I'm awfully proud I didn't say later, "Well he was eating anyway...so..." I never thought to slip him the Raid and see how it went. Much less test it on the baby. A really good piece by the Philadelphia Enquirer.

Clearly, Johnson has been eager to execute the Bush agenda. John D. Graham, who was the regulatory guru of the White House Office of Management and Budget from 2001 to 2006, said one of Johnson's biggest accomplishments as assistant administrator was the repeal of a Clinton-era ban on human pesticide testing.

"Johnson faced a dilemma," said Graham, now dean of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

The human testing studies were not perfect; some did not meet modern ethical standards, Graham said. But advocates were pushing for a ban regardless of their scientific value.

Johnson fixed that. He played a key role in reversing the ban, Graham said, fulfilling a goal shared by Bush and the pesticide industry.

"The White House loved Steve because he was the ultimate staffer," said another Republican colleague who worked at EPA. "He knew how to get things done."

Ironically, Johnson's success at restoring human testing while assistant administrator nearly derailed his Senate confirmation for the top job.

One of the new human tests was the Children's Health Environmental Exposure Research Study (CHEERS). Funded with $2 million from the chemical industry, CHEERS proposed to record the effects of household pesticides on low-income children in Florida. EPA gave participating families $970, a video camera to record exposure, and a CHEERS T-shirt, calendar and baby bib. EPA scientists would collect urine samples and the children would wear a watch-size sensor one week each month.

Several Democrats were aghast. Boxer and other Democrats put a public hold on his nomination.

"Ethics 101: Testing pesticides on small children and infants is wrong," Boxer said. "This is sick. It's a sick, sick thing."

EPA officials said that the senators were overreacting, that CHEERS merely paid families already using pesticides to monitor their children. Johnson, who began his EPA career in the pesticide office, said that although EPA had no improper ethical intent, it could no longer overcome such an appearance.

He canceled CHEERS - though not other human testing programs - and the senators removed the hold on his confirmation.

Oh it is better if you go read yourself.

Definitely the most Amazing tautology of a homo sapien 2008 remains for me.....
yes dare I speak it......

If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media." --Sarah Palin, getting First Amendment rights backwards while suggesting that criticism of her is unconstitutional, radio interview with WMAL-AM, Oct. 31, 2008

There are so many quotes to use but this one seemed adequate. It was tied with a Colbert one early on in the running. But Palin gets the prize for me. My spouse informs me this is entirely inappropriate, though correct.

Then there were the Pictures I saw on war 2008 that I can't put here because they are so ridiculously painful. Nor could I pick one out as my eyes were pretty much glued shut......War 2008, images...try this on for an idea of the scale of world stupidity we have ...
a world gone mad. I'm sorry but I will borrow one I saw Doug Noon bookmarked into a feed reader today. It's representative of the sheer non humor this year brought me most of its days. Most days I had nothing left to cry with. ( preposition dangling) I don't know about the content I was too stunned by the visual to get through it. I really was.

What I Worry About the Most 2008....that's hard. Health, me, you, world, re-election, NCLB re-upping, corporation, them, us, air, water, life, money, tests, medical costs, children in poverty, debt, lawsuits....in the end I suppose I spent the most time worrying over my kids.
So I put them here as a reminder that this matters the most to every being I think in our world, no matter who we are.
OUR Kids:

Most Unexpected Song Played Spontaneously ( with positive results) 2008 ( 94 7 the wave) on the radio during a repeated crying session (this time with a spouse clearly to "blame" .....I unfairly editorialize)



Okay I just found this.
I celebrate You Tube....


Most disappointing book though seemingly pretty cool when insisted on... 2008

Without a doubt, This book........

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller
Do you like 500 page Vogue articles?


Weirdest phone calls .....2008

"Dad Happy Birthday, well it's September 29th the day the market died, it justcame home to my head, welcome to your childhood. How bad is it?" Hi, me.

Followed by VERY sincere wishes I listened to what my economics trained, Galbraith following Dad once said...
(For the record he said we'd been in a recession if not a depression for months, that congress was doing a poor job, that their bailout was opposed by competent economists for how poorly drawn and that they were not "up to the job" and basically explained money to me again. He sais a lot more but I need permission to blast it here. )


Favorite

Vice-Presidential Quote 2008, Biden

Q: What do you plan to do about No Child Left Behind? Do you believe that this issue is simply one of never having provided the resources to carry out the original mission of the program or are there other fundamental flaws inherent in a program with so much emphasis on teaching to the test?

A: Both. I sleep with a teacher every night -- my wife. She taught high school -- had three remedial classes and two advanced classes. Those kids in the remedial class went from sixth grade to 10th grade, and they were still penalized. Those kids in the advanced class, she didn't have to do a thing with. They passed the test. There is something fundamentally wrong with it. And we've underfunded it by about $70 billion. We know the problem:

1. Classrooms are too big; we need smaller classrooms, period.
2. A lot of teachers are going to be retiring. We need a program where we attract the best and brightest students coming out of our colleges to be teachers, and pay them.

Help me with this a second. What do you PLAN to do about it.
"We know the Problem." Hum, do we actually?
Is it a several tiered ed system perhaps? Equity? Quality? Funding? Poverty? Societal issues?
I teach in it and I'm not sure I get it.
(and the tanking economy ought to pick up a few kids into teaching jobs).
What we know appears to be as complicated as everything else. We know this wasn't answered.
But recall this:

Voting for No Child Left Behind was a mistake

Q: Everyone else on this stage who was in Congress in 2001 voted for No Child Left Behind. Would you scrap it or revise it?

It was a mistake. The reason I voted for it, against my better instinct, is I have great faith in Ted Kennedy, who is so devoted to education. But I would scrap it--or I guess, theoretically, you could do a major overhaul. But I think I'd start from the beginning. You need better teachers. You need smaller classrooms. You need to start kids earlier. It's all basic.

My Personal Favorite book of 2008 wasn't written in 2008. I just found it this year.
That counts on your own blog.

The Tao of Teaching: The Ageless Wisdom of Taoism and the Art of Teaching (Paperback)

by Greta K. Nagel (Author) "The wise teacher does not choose to give a particular name to her or his style of educating children..." (more)

Plus she wrote me and she's just terrific, utterly helped me calm and get through one of the darkest nights of my teaching life finding joy and calm every day. It's a quiet book. Full of power.

I see she has a parenting one too. Awesome.

The Tao of Parenting: The Ageless Wisdom of Taoism and the Art of Raising Children by Greta K. Nagel

Best Poet 2008, Michael Salcman. He was also my poet Laureate 2007.
Read him.

The Clock Made of Confetti by Michael Salcman

Really.

I re-read a great book of poetry so it's going to get "Best Found Again 2008"
The Moon Is Always Female

The Moon Is Always Female by Marge Piercy

If you are a man...just move on.

Best idea I had a drawn with kids in a 5 second break in the day, so far...in 2008


This made me think of the best photo's I took...umm...not yet ready for that job....going through a lot of pics.....wait for tomorrow....
Well here is a set I loved:



Kid Stuff.


You realize picking stuff to recall that there is "the world," then there is "your world," and then those you love's world and finally all down to self. Your inner world.
I spent a year thinking of the entirety of some rather painful adult stuff that needs all of our help. Environment, treating each other, fairness, children, the beauty of a life. And rather discouraged.....but...it's nice to see the student images come through on my Flickr, nice I had the technology even if I did buy it, amazing how much I have compared to another. Lots to think about. It might not be so funny after all but there were nice things too, to sort out this year.
More later, few tears left to shed.Sorry.