Elena Kagan: How to groom a U.S. mole

There is something strange about the nomination of Ms. Kagan to the Supreme Court of the United States.

I say “strange” due to the fact I can not understand what she would offer to the court. What are her strong areas of interest and expertise? Are there no family members speaking up? Who, other than her friends, are calling her “The cat’s meow?”

From the little I know, Ms. kagan can not or does not write and I have not heard anything meaningful she has said or done; both of which raises a red flag for me. Perhaps some anecdotal stories about clerking for Thurgood Marshall or conversations with some other people of note. Yes, there is nothing! Not even a favorite recipe or ownership of a cat.

My first impressions of Ms. Kagan occurred when there were no kisses from either her or the President at the formal announcement of her candidacy. No big hugs, tears of joy or a public sharing of spontaneous emotions which I have come to expect as a result of such an honor. In my opinion, this was unusual behavior.

After witnessing the “non kiss” between the President and Ms. Kagan, I went to Wikipedia only to find one of the shortest biographies they have on their site. Just last week her religion was listed as “Jewish” and I note today it has been changed to “Conservative Judaism”; yet another red flag.

When Ms. Kagan’s religion was listed as Jewish, I asked myself, “What Senator is going to risk being called anti-Semitic or a self hating Jew due to his questioning her at her confirmation hearings?” It was then I concluded her confirmation is a done-deal and there are reasons to be concerned about her being on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Finally and perhaps not so unrelated to the nomination of Ms. Kagan, I read somewhere that the President, as far as we know, did not even consider a Black female thereby propelling her into history, creating another Black role-model for us.

Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-SPAN and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB
P.S. Does Ms. kagan have duel citizenship?

Nothingburger
by forgetting
Excerpt:
Far be it from me to second guess a Supreme Court nomination, but let me tell you why Elena Kagan is a bigger nothingburger than this diary.

And
Explain to me how once in her life she stood up for a principle worth holding, how she risked reputation and position to defend that principle. Show me where she weighed in on any of the momentous issues listed above, where she registered complaint or agreement.
Read more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/15/866643/-Nothingburger

Pres. Obama, Master Gardener

It appears to me, the President, like Johnny Appleseed, is planting as many seeds as he possibly can.

* Johnny Appleseed was a legendary American who planted and supplied apple trees to much of the United States of America. Many people think that Johnny Appleseed was a fictional character, but he was a real person.

In rain, snow, sleet and hail, the President laboriously plants his seeds in efforts to guarantee the future of this country. Unlike Johnny, he is planting more than apple seeds.

We are now beginning to see some spouts emerging. We are beginning to see poof the seeds were of good stock. We are beginning to see what truly healthy plants are like and that those plants are the real deal; no Monsanto shit!
We are also witnessing times the President has to thwart the many efforts of poachers bent on harming them.

A few are already on their way to becoming full grown plants yielding wonderful benefits for all to see. Some have to be trans-planted into other areas of the garden and some need more or, in some cases, less fertilizers but they too are well and will continue to grow and prosper for many seasons to come.

Other than sowing his own seeds, the President bequeathed special seed packages to each of his cabinet members to sow in their various environments, assuring them he will help them to grow however way he can.

I am mindful of a song from an off-Broadway show with the simple title, “My garden”. God bless Pres. Obama.
As always,
BB

P.S. In the future, it would be pleasant visiting a section of the Obama Library seeing rows of plants and trees with name tags identifying the bill/seed he planted. “Life in the Obama Arboretum.”
Plants growing……

Franken's Amendment Passes, 64 to 35 [Updated with more good news]
by MeMeMeMeMe
Excerpt:
The Senate on Thursday voted to impose tighter regulations on credit-rating agencies, which have been criticized for misjudging the risks of debt instruments at the core of the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
And
Striking at a lucrative bank business, the Senate on Thursday voted to force credit card companies to reduce fees for debit card transactions and permit merchants to offer customer discounts based on their payment method...
The vote was a major defeat for banks, which lobbied hard against it. But the measure attracted heavy bipartisan support and surpassed a 60-vote threshold for passage. Seventeen Republicans voted for the amendment; 10 Democrats voted against it.
Read more at:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/13/866155/-Frankens-Amendment-Passes,-64-to-35-%5BUpdated-with-more-good-news%5D

*Johnny Appleseed
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/usa/people/Appleseedindex.shtml

Thank you, BBC..

You made my day rendering a dignified, nay, elegant presentation of civility that can abound before, during and after a national election in ones’ country.

Thank you for not going to the crazies and neo-con elements of the UK providing what our American media considers “Balanced news”.

If Gordon Brown or Tony Blair have negative issues to advance regarding the present coalition being built, thanks for not reporting it. Thanks for not giving whatever negative remarks they may have the time of day.

If you have the mirror images of our Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reily or Glenn Becks’, thank you for not rushing to them for their take of the elections. I think when your country denied entry to creatures as Michael Savage, you knew what you were doing. The fact is evidence such characters would make your job so much harder, especially at this critical juncture, by completely polarizing and devastating your country.

And I hope you are thankful, just as I am, Dick Cheney in not a citizen of your country.

I leave with the same “Thank You” card I presented you when I entered this post and wish you well.
As always,
BB
P.S. I have not changed my channel all day!

War: Children grow up (Update)

What are the things you do and say during your growing years and later when close members of your family were killed during a war with America?

There are stories you share with your friends. There are shared feelings. There are large gaps in your genealogical charts; some of them with very abrupt endings. And most of all, there are questions. Lots of them twisting in the wind developing passions you never thought you were capable of having. I note many of our military personnel were also children, maybe not as young, but children all the same.

The US-led war against Iraq did not begin in March 2003, as many Americans believe. In fact the US and Britain had been waging an undeclared war against Iraq for twelve years, ever since the end of the Gulf Slaughter in 1991 (see John Pilger's The Secret War on Iraq). The aim has been the destruction of Iraqi society enabling the US and Britain to gain control of Iraq's huge oil reserves.
http://www.serendipity.li/iraqwar.htm

A child who was twelve years old in 2002 when the present day Afghanistan and Iraq wars began is now almost twenty. If you take the 1991 starting date of the war as featured in the above excerpt, he would be much older.

Richard Reid (Shoe bomber) was born in 1973.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (Underwear bomber) was born in 1986.

Faizal Shahzad (Times Square bomber) born in 1980. Reports say he is now thirty years old.

Children who were ten years old in 1968 hearing about their relatives murdered in the My Lai Massacre would be fifty two.

And now there is talk of war with Iran. I am mindful of the Louie Armstrong version of the song, “A wonderful world” and Ray Charles’ “America”.

All I want to say is stated in my heading: Children grow up. I think lots of teachers look upon society that way. I do. No hidden agenda. Just thoughts of the past and prayers on wings for the future.
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-SPAN and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB

(Update)
The Making of a Terrorist
By ROBERT WRIGHT
Excerpt:
When you look at how much real-world evidence there is against the views of war-on-terror hawks, it’s not surprising that they would construct their own little universe, a place where “jihadi intent” is an uncaused cause, and our only hope is to kill or intimidate the people who, through some magical process that defies comprehension, have been possessed by it.
Read more at:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/the-making-of-a-terrorist/?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fopinion%2Findex.jsonp

Aaron Copland in my music classroom

I don’t know what made me think this morning of the little 8th grade girl who volunteer to demonstrate her interpretation of Copland’s “Simple Gifts”.

It was so long ago but I remember the assignment was to physically interpret the music. Several students volunteered and did a good job.

So it was at the grand full orchestral portion of the music we all looked forward to the individual interpreting and the little girl of which I speak was doing her interpretation. There are at least two versions of the theme before the third and fully majestic orchestrated one would begin. Everything up to that point was “typical”; the volunteer students walking up and down the pathway the class had created with little or no modifications coinciding with the music.

And then it came the little girls time. And when it came to that full orchestral section, she, unbeknownst to herself and only in my mind, did the final act of the movie, Sunset Boulevard; the part wherein Norma Desmond said, “I’m ready for my close-up now, Mr. DeMiles” and unlike the ending in the movies, the little girl did a curtsy.

The classroom was on fire! There was an uproar! I was screaming and yelling “Bravo! Bravo! Wonderful! Bravo!” and her fellow students were yelling and screaming! We were all quite alight and beside ourselves for several moments.

I do not remember if other students volunteered after the little girl’s performance, but I do think we clapped her into an encore. It was hard for us to believe we saw what we had just seen. This little girl was a “plain Jane”.

That was around the 3rd or 4th period into my teaching schedule. I had at least one more class in which to teach the Copeland lesson. Memory has now gone on a flat line. The little girl’s memory of what happened that day may well be different than my own but just like the man said in the movie Gigi, “Ah, I remember it well!”
As always,
BB