It's official!

The United States of America has done something that many people never thought it would do... elect an African-American President of the United States.

Now I'm a young guy, born in the early 1970's, who was raised in post-Civil Rights/Integration America. I never saw the "White's Only" signs in Raleigh except in the History Museum. All of my classes have always been integrated and there was never any question about if they should be. Separate but equal has always been morally unacceptable in our world, and that still holds true today no matter which group of Americans you look at.

Yet, growing up in the South and teaching in a rural county in North Carolina, I never believed this would happen. Us 30-somethings like to think of ourselves as "color-blind", but we know we aren't. We are less racist and don't rush to judge based solely on racial stereotypes but they are still there (see Reagan's Welfare Queens or the "articulate candidate"). I see in my students, citizens that define themselves less by race than by other criteria (economics, social status, etc.). There is more acceptance of interracial dating, interracial friendships, and the sharing of common culture.

It looks like North Carolina will barely miss out on the Obama wave, though by the slimmest of margins. If you had told me that this state would be within 30,000 votes of sending its electoral votes for an African-American candidate from the North with the middle name of our greatest enemy, I would have signed you up for a padded room at the local mental hospital.

My children went to vote with us today and helped us bubble in our votes. Later, they got to place their own votes for Senator Obama and left with large "I Voted!" stickers for Kindergarten class. They can tell their children that they helped place a vote for President Obama.

Let's hope that he can handle all of the problems that face the US. More importantly, let's work hard to help him focus on those problems and create solutions that serve all Americans in an utilitarian fashion.


Update: With 95% of the Precincts reporting, Obama is up in NC 50-49 over McCain with just over 4 Million votes cast in the General Election (2.05 million vs 2.03 as of 11:30 in the evening)
Simply amazing... I can't believe it... WE DID IT!!!!!!

Student Newspapers Endorse

According to Andrew Sullivan there is an overwhelming support for Obama with college newspapers. If I hadn't seen some of the strange stuff that happens at a college newspaper with my own eyes, I'd be tempted to file this one under "Water is wet" category.

It doesn't look like the Greenies have endorsed anyone this season, which is a vast improvement from endorsing DAVID DUKE for Governor in 1991.

Of course, anything is possible this year...

Twin Shots

New Halloween Post up soon with the Ghosts and Daddy Ghostbuster.

Yeah, I couldn't resist. So what's your point already?

Voting and Statistics

Here is an amazing site and a true testament to the interest of the Presidential race in the United States plus a sign that I cut my teeth doing political blogging.

You can find here the breakdown for the number of voters who have already voted for the 2008 General Election in the United States. These numbers are simply mindboggling! My home state of North Carolina, for instance, already has over 2 Million citizens who have voted with the last day for early voting ending tonight. In the last Presidential race in 2004, around 3.5 million people voted and that was considered a strong turnout.

Many of the political science experts wondered what effect Obama would have on turnout. At the school I teach at, in a very CONSERVATIVE part of the state, Obama lost the student election this past week. That in and of itself was not a shock... when my Honors kids ran the vote in 2000, Gore was smashed by GW. The astonishing thing was the magain of victory for McCain was less than 5% (51-48 with 3% for "other"... the statictistics teacher apparently didn't know about Bob). For a county that used to have a sign up welcoming people to the "Home of the KKK" as recently as the late 1970's, we've come a long way.

Now I don't know if Obama will actually carry North Carolina... certainly some of the recent polls look good for the Democrats, but that doesn't mean anything right now. The odd thing is that the split ticket voting that NC is infamous for make take place in reverse this year... namely NC voters electing Obama the Democrat and McCrory the Republican for Governor. Apparently the Republicans finally figured out why they haven't been able to win the Governor's race for the last 16 years... they kept selecting candidates from their base who were nuttier than a Planter's Factory, and trust me that's saying something. Even Balentine the Boy Wonder (tm) couldn't defeat Easley last year. Aside from running against Brown People (illegal immigrants), McCrory has come across as a moderate Republican as the Mayor of Charlotte, though he really isn't that moderate.

The current Lt. Gov., Beverly Purdue, is running for the Democrats and has run a horrible campaign... if I didn't know better I'd swear Erskin Bowles and Rufus Edmunsten were in charge of it. She's been incoherent and has really ticked off her base by insulting their intelligence with her rallies. I would not be shocked if she lost and I know a lot of people who refuse to vote for her.

Then there is the Senate race.... good old carpetbagger Lizzie Dole has been reminding North Carolinians that she once lived here and, in theory, still does. Sorry, but that song and dance isn't going to work this time. Likewise she recently declared that her opponent, Kay Hagan, apparently traded her soul for 30 pieces of silver or campaign contributions from a group of atheists. Sadly for Liddy, Hagan is an Elder in her Presbyterian Church and I'm really curious to hear if the reactions at my Presbyterian Church are as angry as everyone else is. Of course, the seat in question was previously held by the late Senator Helms.

Still, going back to the numbers, I've read that some 80-90 thousand of those early voters are new voters which is really exciting. Of course, we don't know if they are NEW as in, just lost their virginity, or if they are some of the many transplants that are making this state so interesting. I can't wait to see what Tuesday brings.

And please, if you are registered.... GO VOTE!!! Thanks.

UPDATE 1:

John Marshall has some interesting polling data on how early voting is shaping up. I think I'm going to need a lot of *ahem* inspiration on Tuesday night/Wednesday Morning.

2nd Time Around redux

Apparently with the oncoming political changes, I feel a need to blog again. Perhaps it won't be from a point of rage and anger and instead, hope and optimism. Of course, my students would claim that I'm a cynic so who knows what will take place.

I once had an individual blog with essentially the same name, but blogger has blocked my access to it, which it probably for the best we're back. Likewise, I was a guest posted with the late Melanie Mattson at Just a Bump on the Beltway. Sadly, there doesn't appear to be a compilation of the posts from that site which is a shame. Melanie was a generous and kind person who didn't tolerate fools and had an astonishing amount of patience with visitors and more amazing cooking tips than anyone should.

Melanie would be very excited though a bit skeptical of the Obama movement, hoping that they would fulfill the promises and dreams that many progressives/liberals/Wow that Bush is a real @!#^ people want. Perhaps one of the goals of the current events part of this blog will be to hold them accountable, in some small way.

I will also have many comments on the misadventures of raising 5 year old twins, teaching high school, and trying to remain sane while the world around us isn't. I have no idea what will dominate this blog... it depends on what you the audience want.

Thanks

So we were able to ressurect this %#$&()! thing after all

See, this is what I get for messing around with Blogger instead of working on my Masters Thesis.

I figured this thing was gone, capput, no mas, end of discussion, but it's the Internet and nothing is gone forever.... though I hope some of my old e-mails and MUD activities from the 90's are lost for good. Oddly enough USENET postings aren't though... but anyways...

I restarted up this blog again today because it's time and I'm going to move the newer posts here. A lot has happened in the last 3+ years and I have a feeling it's only going to get more entertaining.

So to borrow a quote from a famous franchise, soon to be rebooted (and one I used the last first time):

Let's see what's out there.

Explain this

Now I've been searching high and low for something simple which may be my mistake. My wife and I figured that between the walking piano the kids got from Laura's Godmother and the constant music that plays in our house , we really didn't want to buy any loud toys for Christmas.

So, one of the things on our list is a Sit and Spin. A friend of mine and his family spent a week or two with us back in April. He has a son who is a little older than the twins, and his Sit and Spin soon became the epicenter for many a pitched battle between the toddler crowd. Needless to say, Mom and I took the hint.

So this is a piece of cake right.... I mean it's a bloody Sit and Spin.... they've been around since Man discovered how to mold plastic. So all we need to do is to hop over to the mall and scarf one up.

Yeah, right.

First, they weren't located in a logical place. Ok, I teach history and don't deisgn retail space, but they were very hard to find. Secondly, apparently the children of the 21st century can't handle sitting and spinning. I guess their brains aren't hard wired properly to deal with such simple joy so all of the ones we saw had lights on them that flashed as you went around (granted, Will's did this too but the batteries were dead). Finally, the Sit and Spin can play all sorts of tunes with various kids' songs designed to drive you bats**t crazy.

Now we visited Toys R' US, KB, Target, and a few others that have blurred into my unconscious mind and there was nothing. Heck, at this point we'll be happy to settle for one that just lights up instead of blarring a poor rendition of Old MacDonald again. We've even been to Ebay looking for this thing without much luck. Obviously, we're not the only parent wanting one that is sans music, since the only ones left have music.

We still haven't reached the depts of despair my mother got to trying to find my brother the first version of Castle Wolfenstein the Christmas it came out, but that's only because the kids aren't asking for the present. Shouldn't this be easy and if I can't track down a #$@%^$ Sit and Spin, what hope do I have with Christmas Yet to Come?

3rd Time Around

Yeah... another long hiatus from me.

It's not that I haven't been posting anywhere, because life on the Bump has taken a turn for the interesting... I'm still going to cross post here and especially do some more personal reflections as well as the politics but it's just a matter of getting everything juggled properly.

That much being said, there is just so much to talk about... really....

Happy Halloween

Yeah, I haven't had much to say. It's been a hectic two weeks, especially my Blogmother has called in the reserves this weekend, oh and grades are due Tuesday.

Here's a little something to make you think of all of your goons and goblins. Spitfire say "Roar!" (but not to anyone who isn't family) and Tigger has a "Meow" for you. He actually said his first sentence today! "Dada cuts peppers."

Happy Halloween

Oh boy

This was definately some day. I'm sure you know the type... everything at work is moving along then all of the sudden *{BAMM!}* you get blindsided by the most random thing in the world and remain off kilter for the rest of the time even after you get home.

Well, it was one of those days for me. The students were doing some group work with a timeline, since we are studying Islam and the book has a difficult time explaining all of the caliphates/Crusades in a coherent manner. On top of this, it's Homecoming Week so everyone is tossed off thier rocker with that (still no animals in the courtyard or tennis courts so far).

Everyone was slugging along nicely in my Honors 4th period until a couple of kids started to fuss at each other and the girl involved insited she leave the room. It turns out the boy she was insulting/teasing (?) said something VERY inappropriate about her mother and somehow, despite her bipolarness, she didn't slug him.

After all of that drama, how can real life hold a candle to it.... unless my greatest fears about my brothe-in-law's wedding this weekend hold true (think Randy Quaid's character in American Vacation with a Texas twang.

I'm probably overreacting, but given the insanity we've had over what my kids are supposed to wear for this medevial wedding.... I think I'm going to hide.

Return to the War on Poverty

I think that one of the reasons why we have not heard a coherent and reasonable "War on Poverty" from the administration is because it would mean dealing with gender issues that they would rather not talk about. The Right seems to get really queasy when it comes to dealing with gender based discrimination, even though they are more than willing to play that card if it suits them (the Dole Senatorial race here in North Carolina was a prime example of that). Likewise, I think that is one of the main reasons, sublimimally, why they continue to refuse to address issues like affordable health care, day care, and increased minimum wages because the majority of people it would help are women. Now, maybe I'm way out on a limb here, but I don't think I am.

All of that being said, it's interesting to see what the UN is saying about improving conditions across the globe.

Only greater rights for women can end poverty, warns UN

There are some staggering statistics in this article. For example

* 500,000 women die in childbirth

* 600 million women are illiterate

* One in three women around the world is likely to suffer physical, sexual or
other abuse in her lifetime, usually at the hands of a family member or
someone she knows. Half of the sexual assaults in the world are on girls of
15 or younger.

One would hope that with some international leadership and targeted investment in social infrastructure that the world could start to deal with some of the myraid of problems across the globe. If we are really serious about improving economic conditions in many developing nations, then wouldn't this make a reasonable investment?

(cross posted at Just a Bump on the Beltway )

Here is a Hint...

Just a quick F.Y.I. in case any of my students happen to stumble across this neck of the Internet or any other teenager does...

If you are going to do something as brain dead dumb as cheat on a test, at least have the good sense to erase the page numbers on the test that match up with the page numbers in the book's index for those vocabulary terms.

Honestly... you know, most of us who sit behind those desks didn't just get our degrees because the check didn't bounce when we paid our tuition.

Oh and another thing, if you and your best friend/neighbor happen to have the same answer word for word (down to the misspellings) on short answer/essay questions, I personally consider that to be a slam dunk case, unless you are related to Uri Geller or are good friends with Miss Cleo at the top there. Of course if you are, then she's probably already warned you about this and hopefully your textbook was brought home for the first time this term.

Ok, my rant is done. It's nice to have you here and feel free to comment away.

Greatest rip off known to man

Really... if they don't get the highest #@%#$ profit margins off of these items, I don't know how a Target type store stays in business...

We spent $15 each on a new pair of shoes for the kids tonight because they need an extra pair at school for when the ones they came in get dirty and wet. $15 for something they aren't going to be able to wear for more than 4 months???

The worst part is we couldn't find any cheaper one that didn't have the blinking lights and such or didn't have characters all over them, and I'm sure that's part of the markup. Considering they had adult shoes there which used 2-3 times the resources for basically the same price ($15-30) that we paid for two, you've got to be wondering what's going on especially since that extra money isn't going to the workers.

Oh yeah, I also picked up some DVD's too (one of my weaknesses). We grabed Life of Brian which I have never seen (the older DVD not the special anniversary one), the 30th anniversary of Blazing Saddles which I always seem to be drunk whenever I try to see it, and The Wiz if for no other reason than to show my kids what Michael Jackson looked like before the aliens got him.

I swear if I ever get a chance to finish that Masters in Media Literacy, I'm going to find a way to work in a critique of The Wiz in there. Just because...

Reading of sorts and other observations

So it's like this... my twins are just barely 2 years, adjusted age. They are actually 27 months in chronological age, but that's another post for another day. Anyways, we were riding to the mall and both of them had their books in their laps to look over. My son had his car book and wanted to "read" it. Normally, this amounts to my wife and I reading the words and him turning the pages with a big grin on his face.

Now his spoken language skills are a bit delayed right now because he has a paralyzed vocal cord. Tigger (his nickanme) can speak, but not very well or very loudly. We are making progress with him and he's started to put two words together... sort of, unlike his sister Spitfire, who is giving us detailed solilIoquies on how the world should work.

So my wife starts to read the car book to him and he jumps in on the final word for each page with her, including some of the more difficult words like oil, which he had repeated after me just before we left. Granted, he probably just has a great short term memory, but both of us were very surprised that he did that well.

Here is an earlier entry I did on the kids on their 2nd birthday. I will use their nicknames while online so they won't be too embarassed when they do a google search later on in life.

Though I did also stumble across a link to a humane shelter in California when I googled "spitfire and tigger".... very interesting....

Wallace and Gromit

I haven't had a chance to see the new movie yet, one of the downfalls to being a Dad with kids that are a wee bit too young for the movie. My friend that I referenced in the last post took his 3 year old to see it and, for the most part, Luke loved it even though Wayne thought that Luke probably had some trouble understanding the... resiliancey of most animated characters.

From what I've seen about this weeekend it looks like the duo did quite well, even though my wife's favorite movie Serenity is tanking big time.

Sadly though, the creators of Wallace and Gromit haven't been so lucky. When they should be celebrating their good fortune, they are looking to recover from a serious fire that destroyed most of their archived materials from their earlier shorts and other works. Thankfully, there were some pieces that were not in storage yet, but it's really depressing to see that much historical material melt down in a fire.

Next thing you know, I'm going to find out that the Henson Creature Shop was gutted. That would really depress me.

It isn't just Gotcha

I just got back from watching the first half of the Monday Night Football game with a good friend of mine, someone I might even call my best friend. We met through church and after our last church started to dissolve at the seams (long story), both of our families travelled to the same new church together. Still...

Somehow we got onto politics where Wayne (not his real first name) admitted that Bush screwed up with Myers. Now, this came as a bit of a shock to me, since Wayne is a rock ribbed Republican. He's not a howling fascist, but more of a passive good old boy chuckle southern Republican.

"Welcome to reality," I told him. "I've been waiting for you since 1999... where have you been?"

"Now Chuck," he replied "I'm not in camp with you; I'm just saying he's made some bad decisions."

"Of course, because ignoring New Orleans while it flooded worked so well, he's almost moved the White House to my old Hometown to show that he cares when all it does is remind people how much he F****Ked up the first time. How about Karl and the fact he's on the verge of being charged with outing a CIA agent? If this was 7 years ago, you'd be screaming at the TV about it!"

"All that is with Karl is a game of Gotcha. They don't care. She went to parties with him."

"Not with a blinking neon nametage that said 'Hi, my name is Valerie. I'm with the CIA. Won't you be my friend?'"

"They did it with Clinton and Reagan and everyone. It's not that important..."

Since when has this country lost so much gravitas that treason isn't important?

Wayne, maybe I didn't make myself clear, but this isn't about gotcha. This is what it's about:

• It's about the fact that you scramble for overtime anytime you can get despite the fact that you are a lawyer for the Frederal Government. Why? So your wife can stay at home with your boys so if she goes to work, her entire paycheck doesn't go towards daycare like my wife's does.
• It's about the fact that your wife and I (she's a teacher too) can't make a decent enough living on our own paycheck to allow our spouce to stay at home with the kids even though we have just as many years in school and most other professional jobs.
• It's about the money that's being wasted, both in the Gulf and Iraq, because there are horribly corrupt individuals who don't have any clue what they are doing. Sure, the government wastes money... but this isn't waste, it's Harding style corruption at it's most blatant.
• It's about an administration that has robbed the nation of at least one election and possibly two and people like you not giving a damn if your most fundamental right as a citizen is being upheld
• It's about me being worried about what my kids are going to inherit and if they have a prayer of being as financially *hah!* well off as I am
• It's about the fact that families who aren't lucky enough to work for the government like us face a serious uphill battle to find affordable health care and God forbid if a crisis comes up, like say two premature babies who wind up costing $500,000 each by the time they leave the hospital.
• It's about the fact that my wife and I can't find a decent started home inside the city limits even though we both work full time with professional jobs.

Sure, the DC Democrats aren't worth a tinker's damn, if they were they'd be a real oposition party one worthy of demonizing, but they are a far cry better than what is there now. Where are those principles I heard your leaders preach in 1998 when Clinton was impeached about the sancity of law and some such. I know I didn't go through with law school, but how does all of this fall under that pious rule of law.

Maybe I learned something wrong from the lawyer in my life, but he taught me that no one is above the law and that we should expect the best from our leaders. Period.

It's not Gotcha. That's what will happen when you get your first heating bill in December.

(cross posted at Just a Bump on the Beltway )