I'm taking a free, on-line class at coursera.org entitled Modern and Contemporary American Poetry from U Penn. During the week we were studying the Beat poets, including Jack Kerouac and his babble flow, I was also taking a class entitled "Explicit Phonics" (I'm a teacher). These two classes crashed in my brain one night, and out of that came this poem. It was the most fun I've ever had writing poetry! It's musical, and when I figure out how to get that file uploaded, somehow, I'll update this post.

Grapheme Babble

By Patrice Palmer

October 16, 2012

For Professor Al Filreis and U Penn ModPo TA’s

Phoneme, grapheme, whadyamean

psychobabble, baby babble, babble flow

b-ba-

bab-

babb-

babble

– b-a-b-b-le

babble

babble babble

le

ble

bble

abble

babble

yo babble babble

go gabble

babble gabble

bo babble babble

gabble go

babble gabble

babble

go babble

Babyl-on

babble own ya

bologna

babble on ya

babel on

go babble

babble babble

dabble

babble babble

b-a…bble

babble ba…bble

babble babble

ba…bble

babble on

b – a – b

b – a – b

b-abble b-abble

babble babble

b-abble

babble babble

go babble

babble!

Universal Peace Garden

Universal Peace Garden by luminouslife featuring peace sign jewelry

End Prey for Profit - Education "Reform" as an Example

Prey for Profit:
The exploitation, bullying, marginalization, and/or abuse of people, animals, the environment, economies, and/or countries for profit and/or power.

Example:
Education "reform" for the purpose of the privatization of public education and increase of corporate profits and power. Who is exploited and/or abused? Students and teachers.

The Story:

Some corporations, CEO's and millionaires/billionaires are using their power and money to abuse children, marginalize teachers, destroy unions, take away people's rights, and exploit democracy (Citizens United, etc.) for power and profit. First, they purposefully compare test results between the entire and extremely heterogeneous and higher rate of poverty, huge COUNTRY of the US with the more lower rate of poverty and homogeneous CITY of Shanghai and small country of Finland and in order to be able to say Education in America has Failed. Then, they use EVERY opportunity to scapegoat and demonize teachers and say they, especially the more experienced teachers, are the problem. I especially love their central propaganda piece, "Waiting for Superman," in which they come in to "rescue" our country from our horrendously incompetent teachers and school systems. Next, they lobby and create laws, policies and regulations, while they put their corporate reform minions in place as School District Superintendents, School Board Trustees and Federal and State Legislators to help usher in their reforms, budget cuts, vouchers, co-locations, merit pay, common core standards, increased testing, union and collective bargaining busting, as they erode public education and teacher's rights. Finally, they get their desired results: increased corporate profits for charter and private schools...testing and remediation companies...textbook publishers, etc.; dis-empowered or broken unions; low-salaried, at-will employed teachers who have no due-process rights and for whom they no longer have to pay much in benefits. Notice that there is not one mention of students in this scenario? Of course there isn't. Children were never really their concern. They threw teachers under the school bus while they used public-school children and education reform as the cover for their battle for power, control and profits. Shame on the corporate "reform" people for using our nation's children as human shields. End the Use of Children as Prey For Profit. 

Democracy in America?

Democracy in America? First, our Supreme Court ruled that corporations are people. Now, those "corporate people" are working to privatize education, prisons, and the post office, as well as sell off public lands. Corporations "lobbied" to purposefully deregulate the financial industries to create a crash that rocked the world, caused the second Great Depression and the largest transfer of wealth and property (not to mention the "bail-outs" they received) in history, and brought our federal, state and local governments to their knees. They "lobbied" legislatures to cut funding to schools, prisons, the postal service, and public parks so they'd no longer remain financially viable, and then say the public agencies are failing.

They simultaneously run a massive propaganda campaign to scapegoat and demonize teachers and unions as the root of much that is evil in society, so they no longer have to deal with workers rights and such things as paying a living wage and decent benefits, as well as worker safety. After that, they say we must privatize these public agencies. They "lobby" to have their for-profit charter schools replace public schools, and to have voucher programs to steal from public education what little funding is left.

Finally, corporations (those "persons" and their CEO leaders that get all the tax breaks) own our public lands to exploit and destroy, own and control our private communications, our curriculum to mold the minds of our students into unthinking worker bees, our prisons for slave labor while we pay for prisoners' benefits; all for their own profit. When corporations control a country, that is called fascism; not democracy.

The 14 defining characteristics of fascism are at this link:
http://www.rense.com/general37/char.htm

Intolerance and Hatred Or Love and Respect? It's a Choice.

One Man's Blog posted about Christians on FOX News threatening to kill and rape others who don't want a Christian memorial placed at the site of the World Trade Center. His post was quite excellent.

I was thinking about the situation. It doesn't matter what religion someone professes to believe; it doesn't mean they actually uphold its tenets. People can call themselves anything: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Pagan, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, etc. People are human, and as such, are fallable. People can choose to live in love or fear; they can choose to show kindness and compassion or unkindness and cruelty. Rather than be respectful, kind, civil, and compassionate...some people choose to bully, ridicule, scapegoat, deride, hit, rape (do I need to keep going?) others just because they don't follow the same belief system (or any other multitude of reasons/excuses). They do themselves, the other person and their belief system the greatest disservice. Life is all about choices, and our ability to be humane towards others is what determines the course of our lives, our society and our world.

http://onemansblog.com/2011/08/06/christians-openly-advocate-killing-athiests-on-fox-news-facebook-page/

The Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood Controversy and Standing Up to Corporate Bullies

In the Salon essay, "Susan G. Komen’s priceless gift," Joan Walsh and Rebecca Traister write about the potential impact of the Komen/Planned Parenthood controversy:

"The starkly observable attack against something as crucial and basic as breast exams for poor women, as well as the fact that so many divergent voices were pulled into it, meant that the conversation was not about partisan politics; it was about women. For the first time in what feels like forever, passion and fury were being loudly, proudly given in a full-throated voice, on behalf of women – women as moral actors; women as citizens with rights, health, bodies, freedoms; women as people with families and economic concerns."

Women and girls, as well as female-dominated professions, have frequently been the victims of violence and bullying. Remember the earlier health care "reform" (doublespeak) attempt by members of Congress to reduce the frequency of, and change the ages at which, women receive mammogram and pap smear screenings, in order to increase profits for health insurance companies? Do you remember how Viagra got covered by insurance quickly, while contraception for women went uncovered for decades. Have you noticed the scapegoating and demonization of teachers? Seeing the patterns, yet? Bullying isn't just about gender. It creates inequities in power, economics, and rights. Bullying is the antithesis of peace.

Bullying has been used to bring about so-called "reforms" that benefit corporations at the expense of people...

1 - tort "reform" that reduces our access to the courts, forcing us to go through mediation, instead, as well as reducing caps on damages corporations are required to pay for the terrible things they do,

2 - education "reform" that reduces children's equal access to public education through privatization (and the union-busting that has absolutely nothing to do with education and everything to do with lowering wages and benefits, and reducing worker's rights),

3a - get tough on criminals law and sentencing"reform" that increased our prison populations to the highest levels on the planet (for which we, the taxpayer, pay)

3b - prison "reform" in which prisons are now being privtized to provide corporations with cheap labor without having to bear the cost of health care, etc (because we taxpayers pay for that),

4 - repeal of minimum wage and child labor laws across the US in order to provide cheap labor,

5 - the push for Right to Work laws in multiple states that creates the right to work for lower wages and less rights with the power and right to fire at will in the hands of employers and weakening unions so employees can't collectively bargain for living wages, decent benefits and receive due process rights.

The political, economic and corporate bullying of the middle class and poor (and women, in general) needs to end now. Human rights, equity and equality, justice, non-violence, compassion, caring, and integrity are necessary for a peaceful country and world. Governments and neighborhoods that want peace "would seek liberty for all, would promote mutual respect and tolerance, and would demand that rights go hand in hand with responsibilities. Such a neighborhood would also require that the strong as well as the weak subscribe to a rule of law. It would combat the corrupted as well as the corrupting, and would encourage participatory and legitimate democratic governance within all relevant institutions." 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, in her memoir "Unbowed."

What is the cycle of bullying? This is from The Bullying Circle, originated by Dan Olweus, PhD:

A - The Bullies - plan/start the bullying, taking an active part = ALEC (American Legislative and Exchange Council)

B - The Henchmen - take an active part but don't plan/start the bullying = Legislators, Police

C - The Active Supporters - cheer the bully on and seek social/material gain = Politicians, Organizations, Other Corporations, Media

D - Passive Supporters - enjoy the bullying but do not show open support = Average citizens who buy into A-C's propaganda and lies

E - Disengaged Onlookers - observe, then turn away, thing/saying  "It's none of my business." = Some average citizens

F - Potential Witnesses - oppose the bullying, know they should do something, but do nothing = Some average citizens

G - Resister/Defender/Witness - actively resists, stands up to the bully, speaks out against bullying = Those even fewer citizens who see it happening and do all they can to stop it

I - The Target(s) - the person/people/groups being bullied = women, teachers, fill in the blank.

What will turn our country around is when D-F become G's who let A-C know their bullying will no longer be tolerated, and that, if they continue their bullying, there will be real consequences.

We won't...
elect/re-elect them, buy their products, or watch/play their products.

We will...
boycott them, be non-compliant, peacefully and non-violently protest and demonstrate, and be everywhere speaking up and out against their bullying.

We CAN end their bullying when we stand united together to protect the less fortunate, as well as ourselves. There is strength in numbers, and power in knowledge.

The very existence and operations of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is corporate bullying at its highest political and economic impact upon the greatest number of people, and it undermines our democratic process.
1 - Member corporations write the laws,

2 - They give them to legislators (whose trip they fund through "scholarships" when those legislators do their bidding) to submit and pass. ALEC's name, of course, is removed and the bills are submitted without showing who authored them. The legislators take oaths and are required to draft and submit laws themselves, so they are going against their oath of office and the law. This is corruption!We the people - the actual stakeholders of this country - are not involved in the process. ALEC did not invite teachers to their education summit that is currently being held on a beautiful island. Anyone who wants to improve education would invite the experts in the field - teachers. Obviously that is not what this meeting is about.

3 - The only journalists they allow to cover events are pro-corporate; the rest get escorted out or arrested for trying to do their jobs as members of the free press.

There is no questioning them. There is no transparency. We the people are not invited. The bills they write benefit themselves, at the expense of we the people. Participatory democracy is bypassed, and the corporations control the legislators. That is NOT democracy; it is fascism. Let's end the bullying, in all areas of our country! Be a Resister/Defender/Witness!

Be a "G!"

Susan G. Komen's priceless gift

Comment to President Obama on Remove Arne Duncan Petition

Get politicians and corporate CEO's out of education. Put those who actually educate in charge. It's that simple!

Children are not widgets, clones or copies. No two are exactly alike. Societal, economic, family, and personal factors DO impact their "performance" on test scores. The purpose of education is not for children to perform well on tests. A test score is not the final product of an education. The purpose of education is to teach children how to think critically, how to find information, how to learn, while respecting their individuality, and to do this creatively. We do this, in part, by teaching them literacy, numeracy, science, social studies, etc. These are not all that we teach. We also teach social skills, respect, integrity, taking chances in learning, persistence, etc. You can't test that!

We need to be given the autonomy, resources and time to teach. Instead, we've had to spend the last 10 or so years fighting for our profession, our jobs, our rights, our education budgets, our resources, our reputations, and most importantly...our students. Teachers should not have to waste any time on fighting for any of these things that diminish our time and energy from doing our job...teaching children.

Shame on those who are using and abusing us, taking us away from our mandate - to teach our nation's children, as they work to game us and the system to privatize education so they can simply make more profits. Shame on you, President Obama, if you allow this political and corporate circus of education "reform" to continue. Instead, why don't those politicians and CEO's do their own jobs and fix the stalemate and partisanship in Congress, produce American jobs with living wages and decent benefits, get money out of politics, and end corruption?

Oh, and if you truly do want to end bullying, perhaps leading by example would be a good start. Stop bullying educators, stop bullying each other, and start modeling respect, decency and honor. Lead by example, as children learn what they live.

Money, Money, Money - It All Comes Down to Money: Corporate Influence in America

Money doesn't buy happiness; nor does it buy freedom. It does, however, buy economic and political power. It does buy the media outlets that control and spread the "news." The media are those large, corporate-owned propaganda and brain-washing machines that tell people the "truth" and how and what to think about which "truths" they decide to relate to the people. Marshall McLuhan once said, “The medium is the message.” Well, the media are corporations, and their message is to promote and maintain the sole life-blood of their corporate lives: profit. Corporations control the message the public sees, hears and reads. The media are no longer the Fourth Estate.

Money also buys the foundations, think tanks, councils, non-independent research studies, and "reform" movements that are backed by the very deep pockets of corporations and CEO's to maintain their control over the status quo that includes huge income inequality, a regressive tax structure, reduction in human and citizen's rights, a citizen's access to the courts, and a constituent's access to his or her own legislators. Of course, they don't mind that we the people continue to pay our taxes, helping to fund their corporate agenda, since many legislators are now owned by corporations. Corporations don't mind that 1 in 4 American children now live in poverty. They don't mind that there is only 1 job for every 4 unemployed Americans, as they continue to export jobs. They don't mind that their profits continue to soar as the American people suffer and are crushed by supporting the weight of the hoarded wealth of the top 1%.

The fact that the Supreme Court of the United States of America has a God-complex and decided to give corporations the gift of life as persons, and give corporate money the human right to free speech, is conveniently overlooked. Corporations have one sole purpose in their “life,” and that is to make a profit. The Citizens United decision allows them to spend unlimited amounts of money to buy politicians, buy votes, to literally write the bills in their favor, at the expense of humanity and the environment, and hand them to our legislators to pass into law.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is foaming at the mouth to destroy unions and collective bargaining in order to privatize education, attacking the educated and those who educate the populace in the process. They don't want an educated populace that has the critical thinking skills with which to question them. This is why the education "reformers" want to destroy the teacher's unions and privatize education. If they can do this, they will control who has access to education, and the actual education curriculum of their own corporate propaganda. Plutocracy in action.

ALEC is also trying to repeal minimum wage and child labor laws. The bills are already in multiple state houses, submitted verbatim. Now, really, why would corporations want this? It's not rocket science. If you want to go back to the times of the Gilded Age (aka, the Robber Barons) continue to support ALEC and its well-funded agenda and propaganda campaign. Support Mr. Gingrich, who calls child labor laws silly and would rather see children in poverty work as janitors, than get an education. George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Many people have bought into the corporate propaganda that unions are the cause of America's decline. They obviously aren't looking at the facts that continuously record-breaking corporate profits and rapidly increasing CEO wages and benefit packages have come at the expense of the jobs, wages and benefits of working Americans. As corporate profits and CEO wages have increased, the wages of average Americans have either remained flat or decreased over the past few decades. This has been as a direct result of corporate strategy, and the people's willingness to let their own unions die as they misguidedly put their trust in corporations. The facts show that as workers let the unions fall, the middle class has shrunk, income inequality has increased, and poverty and homelessness have increased. Unions did not create the current economy, nor did they create the recession. 

Ultra-rich job creators have sent our jobs overseas, as their ultra-rich corporations have received tax cuts, tax breaks, and tax refunds. Then, they blame the lack of jobs on "greedy" unions and union members. I think many folks have forgotten what unions have done for middle class America. Without unions, we would all still be working 7 days a week, 15-18 hours a day, in unsafe working conditions, without minimum wage or child labor laws, or any health care or retirement plans. We would, essentially, return to the status of serfs. Folks have forgotten that union members and organizers literally died so that people now only have to work 40 hours per week for a living wage, have safe working conditions, health care, retirement plans and Social Security. With workers enjoying a living wage and shorter working hours, they also have the freedom of more time to spend with their families to actually enjoy their constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness. They have more time to spend getting a higher education and increase their job and wage prospects, rather than simply enter the work force at a younger age. Union members and organizers died so we don't have to spend our lives working to fill the deep coffers of corporations, only to live and die in abject poverty.

Corporations and "reformers" are actively working to bust the remaining unions, end collective bargaining rights, and repeal minimum wage and child labor laws for a very good reason. They want to return to a time when they could and did pay what little money they want to their workers. Do you think they will stop there? They will get rid of other labor laws, as well, that restrict them from creating unsafe working conditions. You can see evidence of this trend in the corporate push to deregulate the Clean Air Act and other environmental protection laws, as well as their efforts to hobble the Environmental Protection Agency. These "patriotic" corporations are simply paving the way to bring back serf-style jobs as the saviours of America, as they rake in even higher profits, since they will no longer have to export these low-wage jobs.

Money doesn't buy happiness. It doesn't buy freedom. Life is not a business model. Corporations are not persons and their money is not speech. If people want to be serfs, we can let corporations continue on their steady course and play their aggressive chess game that has we the people on the defense. We the people are the trees that stand like silent sentinals of democracy and freedom, with our roots planted deeply in this land. Corporations have shaken the leaves off of us, leaving our branches exposed. They are attempting to uproot us.

What do you value most? How much do you value your freedom? How much more are you willing to accept and give up, not only for yourself, but for your children and future generations? When will you say, "No more" and be willing to stand up and take back what has already been taken? When will you make certain that our rights and freedoms, our democratic republic, our very country, will never again be open to attack from the inside in this way? It's not just up to me. This will take all of us. Your country and your fellow citizens need you, desperately.