Randoms Part Deux

I’m completely okay with amnesty for all the illegal aliens presently residing in our country.  All they have to do is sign up for a four-year period in any one of our armed forces.  

A new requirement for the President of the United States of America is that they MUST have served at least 4 years in one branch of the military.  They must also show allegiance to the flag of THIS country by saluting the flag at every ceremony, every time.  

If competition is bad, then why do we still have awards shows?  If it’s not a competition, why keep track of record or ticket sales, award someone “Entertainer of the Year”, “Best Actor”?  Why have shows like “Biggest Loser” and “Amazing Race”?  A competition always means that someone will lose, while someone wins.  

I work 10-12 hours a day, 5 days a week (not counting “mom” time); no wonder I’m exhausted.

If something has been used incorrectly or illegally for a long period of time; does that use supersede what the correct use is or should be? After a certain time, does it no longer become illegal because it’s been accepted by avoidance?

If there is no value to religion in morality; then what is used as the basis of value for right vs. wrong?  Who decides what is good or bad?  

If you know something is wrong and let an authority know, is that the end of your responsibility?  

I don’t think my right to bear arms has anything to do with my right to observe my religion or speak my mind.  I don’t think you need to be religious to carry a gun or carry a gun to be religious.

I never thought I’d see the day when it was illegal to pray in school or public, yet legal for two people of the same gender to marry. 

I am confused why I’m not allowed to choose the school I want to have my child(ren) attend, but I’m forced pay for other people’s choices over abortion, birth control and education for illegal immigrants.

I never thought I’d be alive during a time when it’s illegal to smoke (and kill yourself if you want to) but it’s legal to kill a baby with a heartbeat (because you don’t want it).  

Has decided that it’s okay to be a friend with someone that you just can’t be “That Friend” with.

Remember when “Pa” and “Ma” Ingalls got tired of working their stuff out and “Pa” moved into town so he could have a fling with some girl that worked at the general store?  And they lived apart for years while the kids spent every other weekend and two week days in shared custody? Yeah, me neither. 

Budgeting by Priority

Irritated with the way our City government is run?  Do you like the services and benefits our city has to offer?  Let our City know!

Last night I attended one of the Budgeting by Priorities neighborhood meetings held at the City of Redmond City Hall, in the Bytes Café.  

Enter City Hall and sign in with your information, including your email address, put on a name badge and let them know what neighborhood you’re representing for the break-out session later in the evening. There are a variety of tables in the lobby with brochures, media and information regarding city services, projects and programs.  Feel free to take as many items as interest you.  As you enter the hallway to the Bytes Café, you’ll see easel boards with information about the City’s priority-based budgeting process and find the definitions for the major priority headings:  Infrastructure and Growth, Clean and Green Environment, Community Building, Safety, Business Community and Responsible Government.  

There are several tables staffed by City employees for each of the subheadings of the main priority headings; take a moment to sit down and discuss with the staff what you’d like to see happen and why.  You only have 45 minutes for this and there are over 15 tables, so you likely won’t get them all.  Pick your favorites and get started!  

I started at the Community Events table and discussed what community events our family has attended, what we liked and disliked about them.  I’ve often wondered why the City doesn’t post a banner regarding Derby Days to announce the event and discovered that there is an ordinance preventing banners from being suspended in the City.  We discussed the distance from the carnival area (Redmond Elementary) to the actual City Center where the booths and food are located, also volunteer activities that should be made available to local scout troops for Eagle projects and other community service organizations.  (Thanks to Rob Katz for his appeal for more Eagle Project ideas!)  

I made it to three other tables:  “Urban Centers”, “Redmond’s History” and “Safety”.  Urban Centers was mostly discussing the Overlake improvements (Sears Center, Microsoft Main Campus and surrounds) and the future plans for green space and transportation/traffic in this area.  Redmond’s History was interesting and I made suggestions for signage posted on historic buildings in town to create interest for the history buffs and visitors in our town.  There are plans to develop an audio tour to work with the existing walking tour brochure, so that visitors can learn more about the history of our town.  I also had a few moments to discuss with the Fire Department advertising their annual Fire Safety day at the local elementary schools for better coverage.

Mayor Marchione spoke for a few moments and showed a slide presentation regarding the history, present and future of Redmond which was a bit shocking to me -- 55,000 residents in Redmond now; projected at 77,000 in 2030?  At 7:30 we were asked to separate into different neighborhood breakout discussions for the remaining hour of the evening.

Our Education Hill breakout had two City Council members, one police officer, one neighborhood contact (Sharon Stiteler) and five residents.  We all lived within about 10 blocks of each other (Education Hill is a large area of the city).  We spent some time introducing ourselves and then listed what our priorities are for the next 1 to 6 years.  To a person, we agreed that:

• Police and Fire should be FULLY funded from the City’s general fund and NOT reliant on Bond or Levy funds.  Our Public Safety is a huge concern and if we don’t have enough Police or Fire staff to take care of our residents in a timely fashion, patrol our streets and respond to calls, then we fail our citizenry.
• Traffic on 166^th is impacted negatively by the huge numbers of drivers who use it to avoid the chaos on Redmond-Woodinville Road (Hwy 202) or Avondale Road.  We also discussed the traffic on side-streets like 97^th as people attempt to avoid speed bumps on 95^th and how that negatively affects neighborhoods. 
• Community / neighborhood involvement was important and that the city should make more effort to connect neighborhoods together through neighborhood watches, upkeep of streets, sidewalks, traffic circles and civic participation.
• More crosswalks on 104^th (at the entrance to Horace Mann Elementary), on 166^th (there is one at 100^th but no more anywhere down the hill until 85^th).  The number of people who dash across these busy streets create a dangerous driving and pedestrian environment.
• We also felt that Public Safety (Police Patrols) and traffic safety were connected in a number of ways as excessive speeds on 166^th and side roads impacted neighborhoods and created additional numbers of drivers and non-residents in our neighborhoods.  

The negative of this evening for me was I expected a bit more time to discuss actual issues of our city.  I also felt that the meeting was more of a sleight of hand to involve the public with little intention of really applying or attempting to use the ideas.  I was a bit discouraged at the small number of people who attended; although I know people are not only busy with other things in their lives, but skeptical (as I am) about the politics and usefulness of our City employees, Council and Mayor.  I encourage you to make your ideas and opinions known to our City employees through survey, attending meetings and by contacting them directly.  

There will be a 2^nd meeting focusing on other neighborhoods on March 7^th, 6:30 PM, although any city resident may attend (even if your neighborhood is not one of the breakouts).  For more information or to take the survey see the City of Redmond website. 

GOP Caucus 2012

For the first time in my voting life, I attended the Precinct Caucus for the GOP (Republican Party).  The King County Precinct was held at the Redmond VFW Hall on Saturday, March 03, 2012.  I attended with Barbara Johnston, who attended in 2008 (and was the only representative of our voting precinct that year).

We arrived approximately at 8:45 to stand in line for our registration process.  There were only about 10 people at this time and the doors weren’t scheduled to open until 9 AM.  Announcements were made about using computers to registers us, the need for both photo ID and Voter Registration Card, and a recommended (NOT required) donation of $5 per person to cover costs for the caucus.  We were informed that the remainder of unused funds would be donated to the GOP nominee campaign.  

On a side note, one of the attendees was immediately agitated that the “suggested donation” was in fact a “Poll Tax” and that we were not required to pay.  He later made a motion to notify all attendees that the party was in fact, charging a poll tax, and that it was against primary regulations.  The motion was seconded and noted in the record.  (See below for definition of “Poll Tax”).  This same attendee made another motion or two regarding items that were not relevant for this article (and in my opinion were not necessary or relevant for the caucus).

According to MSNBC, the “Caucus” is a non-binding straw poll, usually used together with the state primary to decide the candidate for the national convention.  Washington State has 43 delegates at the Republican National Convention (held August 27, 2012 in Tampa Bay, Florida).  As Washington State has no primary this election year, the candidate will be determined using the delegates (or alternates) selected at today’s caucuses; who will attend the county convention, then the state convention and finally the national convention.

As the caucus began in earnest, we located our precinct area and sat in the chairs; after most of the over 100 attendees were seated or registered (it was a SRO crowd), our King County Caucus Chair covered some housekeeping items and went over the basic agenda and format for the remaining time.  We then moved into our individual voting precinct groups, were required to sign in and state our choice for GOP candidate (where the straw poll count comes from), and then set about to appoint a Precinct Caucus Chairman and Secretary.  After the Chairman and Secretary were appointed by our group we discussed the platforms for GOP Candidates for Washington states by completing a “bubble sheet” using questions regarding the economy, health, immigration, education and several other topics.  

After our platform sheets were completed, we elected two delegates and two alternates for our voting precinct (delegate and alternate needs are determined by the size of the voting precinct).  We had a group of 10 people, and the voting was civil and informative.  At the end of our elections, we completed the forms, tallied the “votes” for presidential nominees, sealed the envelope and turned our packet into the Caucus Chairman.  

Our small group had some valid, respectful and thoughtful discussions regarding each of the three candidates.  The Straw poll for our small group of 10 voters was 1 vote Ron Paul, 2 votes Rick Santorum and 7 votes Mitt Romney.

I was impressed by the number of people in attendance, the diversity of the crowd and the organization of the volunteers.  The crowd was about 50/50 for new vs. experienced attendees and other than the few motions at the beginning regarding housekeeping items, it seemed to flow rather smoothly.  

We adjourned at 12:30 PM.

Click here for more information on “Poll Tax”

For more information on the 2012 Republican National Convention, click here.

Conforming

The other day I was frustrated about my 7^th graders failing grades.  It’s not like this is a new thing or even like I expected it to make a drastic recovery over night (or even, over quarter); but I was particularly frustrated this particular day because of 6 grades, he has four “F” grades.  FOUR!

So, I sent off an email to the Vice Principal and all four teachers.   It basically said, “I’m frustrated and I don’t know what to do, but I’d like to figure this out so can we work together and get something that works for everyone.”

I heard from all four teachers and the school counselor (but not the Vice Principal). Two of the four teachers reminded me that I needed to set aside “Homework time” at home so that he had a set time to do homework.  Yeah, doing that already.  ALL the kids sit down at one time and do their homework together.  The only exception is math homework which I am useless at; that waits until their father gets home so he can solve the math puzzle.  He thinks math is “FUN”!   (Seriously, throw up.  hurl)  

One teacher told me he participates in class but doesn’t like to do class work or homework.   Gee, I think THAT’S THE PROBLEM.  Now the solution is???? 

One teacher told me that (my son) “On a regular basis shows insight and knowledge of the material covered. Often outperforming group members. On a regular basis (he) shows he doesn’t know the fundamentals we’ve gone over day-after-day for weeks. I cannot predict which of the two any particular topic will be in.” Again, color me shocked.

So, in discussing this on Facebook with my friends, we covered various trials of being a parent, including letting them fail and suffer the consequences.  I’m big on consequences and we talk frequently at home about them and follow through, too.  So far the consequences have been loss of allowance (for lack of doing chores), loss of electronics (for grades) and loss of social time and sports (again for grades).  Nothing.  I made a comment about the long-term consequences of letting him not turn in homework (a choice), failing classes (in this case, a choice) and the stress it puts on our family now and in the future.

The conversation was:   (names removed for courtesy reasons – spelling intentional)

ME:  There's this whole community learning parenting thing called "Love & Logic". It's basically "Your child is responsible for their own choices. It's not your homework, it's theirs."

Sure, it's theirs, but don't they have to follow the rules of society? Don't they have to learn to do things they don't want to do? At what point am I neglecting my parental DUTIES when I allow them to "control their own lives" (at 13).

I realize I’m over-generalizing the whole thing, but that's an overview.

My Friend:  I see. If I may ask why does recognizing their sole ownership of their hwk. or any other responsibility automatically mean to you that they will not follow societal rules and norms? If they drop the ball on their responsibilities then they suffer the natural consequences, even Dr. Dobson promoted that.

So, as stated earlier in the post, I was in a BAD mood.  I let this comment drop – and pretty much the rest of the post – because, frankly, anything I said from this point on was going to turn from venting (my intent) to a full-blown, balloon-raising, streamer throwing pity-party (NOT MY INTENT).  But, as I went through the rest of my day, this conversation kept fighting it out in my head.  Have I mentioned what a scary place my head is?

Let’s for a moment, look at the question of following societal rules and norms.  I am a conformist, a rule-follower and NOT a risk taker.  I do what I’m told, and breaking the rules is not the norm for me.  Yes, I’ve driven over the speed limit; yes, I’ve disobeyed my parents; no, I’m not perfect.  My parents were big on consequences too; but I don’t remember challenging them as continuously as my children do.  I got good grades (except for Algebra), didn’t skip school, rarely sassed my mom (she had a shoe and wasn’t afraid to use it) and kept my curfew. 

I think I’ve grown up to be a pretty good adult; rule-following and conforming as I should.   Being a responsible adult means following the rules, conforming, respecting authority and, because of these personality traits, being successful, and prosperous.  There is nothing wrong with being courteous, respectful and willing to submit to an authority higher than your own.  Sure, people who buck the system are noticed, but what’s so wrong with doing what you’re told (as long as it doesn’t break God’s laws or man’s laws)?

If my teen chooses not to follow the rules of the teachers, the school, the educational association; what could the consequences be?  For purposes of argument, I’m NOT talking about an inability to pass a test or class – I’m talking about willfully choosing to not do what one is asked to do.  Let’s say, he fails four out of 6 classes in 7^th grade.  They pass him to 8^th grade.  He now hasn’t done the necessary work to pass 7^th grade, so the consequences are that 8^th grade is more difficult than it has to be.  Let’s say he fails most of 8^th grade too and they pass him to 9^th grade – High School.  So, now he has a 7^th grade education in a 9^th grade environment and it only gets harder from here.  At this point, let’s say he has two choices:  do as he’s asked (turn in homework, study hard/er, get a tutor, etc.) or just keep doing what he’s doing.

Remember, I’m letting him take responsibility and suffering the consequences on his own.  I’m not interfering. 

Let’s say he makes it through High School and he manages to get a diploma but he still doesn’t like to do what he’s told.  How many employers will keep paying him when he chooses to show up late for work 3 out of 5 days a week?  Instead of wiping down the counters with bleach, he decides he’ll just brush the counters off?  He’s asked to drive directly to a delivery address, but instead he drives to his girlfriends and then to the delivery?  So, now he’s unemployed and pretty much unemployable unless he finds a kind soul who will hold his hand and put up with his nonconformity. 

Consequences don’t only concern the rule-breakers; they affect a rippling circle of people around the non-conformist.  They affect the taxpaying, working, public who pay for education, insurance, healthcare, and other “free” things.  The food service worker that doesn’t follow the rules can cause a food poisoning incident that can affect hundreds of people who eat at their establishment.  The driver who drinks and then gets behind the wheel can injure or kill someone when their car crashes.  The young person who carries a gun and “accidentally” fires it can injure or kill someone. 

Consequences are supposed to be the natural occurrence for any action.  Consequences can be good (although we usually think those are rewards) or bad.  If you do the right thing, sometimes the consequences are bad no matter how hard you tried.  And sometimes doing the wrong thing(s) doesn’t seem so bad because the consequences don’t seem so bad. 

But consequences affect everyone.  And I’m trying to teach my kids that on a daily basis.  So, how do I teach them that consequences are real?  Important?  Necessary?  And how do I teach them this in a society that wants to place the blame conveniently on everything and everyone EXCEPT the actual person the blame lies with?  And, with society trying to convince me that consequences aren’t natural or necessary, why even bother?

This too shall pass, but it’s going to be a long several years….