Candidates for Democratic Presidential Nominee & Starting a New School Year

If you are as interested as I am in knowing politician's views and votes, I have a good site for you. The site is called OnTheIssues, Every Political Leader on Every Issue , and the Speculation about the 2008 Presidential Race. You can also take a Quiz to find out which candidate best represents your views both in what they've said and how they have voted. I took the Quiz and Dennis Kucinich was the candidate I matched, of course since we are both very liberal in our political beliefs. One of my favorites, John Edwards was listed below the next three candidates, Dodd, Clinton and Obama. I guess my reaction to Edwards is that his whole candidacy has been about pulling up the poor and fighting the power structure dominated by the rich, plus his stance on not taking money from the lobbyists, like the drug, oil, auto, etc lobbyists or companies. Obama, Dodd and Kuncinich also fall in the category of those who do not take money from these companies.

I started out wanting Hilary Clinton to win, but when I found out just who she takes money from, I was totally turned off by her. The things she says and often the way she votes matches much of my own political leanings. Her earlier votes aren't always beholden to the money she has taken for her campaign. I'm really puzzled that Rupert Murdock has given her money, and to no other Democrat Candidate. This makes me feel really uneasy about Hilary. Murdock is the “soul” behind ultra-Brush supporter and biggest on the air liar, FOX news. He has a lot to do with why the 2000 election was first called for Bush and with all the media cheer leading for Bush. I don't want my president to ever be beholding to Murdock.

In the last primary vote, I voted for Kucinich. I agree with him on most things, but I have to admit that I've been turned off by his marriage to a very young woman who is easily forty or more years younger than he. I'm sure most men think this is great, but as a middle school teacher who always wants to protect her beautiful thirteen year old female students from all the leering middle-aged men I see in their cars around the campus, I feel deeply offended by this age difference. I know it shouldn't matter, but I can't help my feelings. Also, I know that Kucinich can't win. I may vote for him in the primary, but I doubt that he will be the person on the final Democratic ticket.

I haven't always agreed with my Governor, Bill Richardson, but I still respect him and am conflicted about supporting him or not as a presidential candidate. I am glad he is our governor, and have liked much of what he has done in my home state. There is plenty I have disagreed with him. I don't agree with everything he has said about what his presidential policies would be, but then, I doubt my perfect candidate would every be elected as president anyway since I'm so liberal. The quiz I mentioned earlier reveals that we only agree on 30% of the issues. I'd be proud to have an at least a one-half Hispanic, as I am also one-half Hispanic, as president, but the recent immigration debate has shown just how prejudice this country is towards brown faces. Also the press has been largely ignoring Governor Bill. In actuality, Bill Richardson has the most experience, and he is already proven himself to be a “mighty” negotiator with difficult countries. As many of the elections since Thomas Jefferson have shown, we don't often elect the person who has proven experience.

I'll have to look into the positions and voting records of Dodd and Obama before I can comment on them, but the quiz I took says that Dodd and I agree on 81% of the Social issue and 71% of the Economic Issues, and that Obama and I agree on 63% of the Social Issues and 71% of the Economic Issues. If anything that tells me I still need to learn more about every Democratic candidate running in the primary before I know who I'll vote for. Of course, in the final presidential election, I have learned to doubt that my vote will be counted, as I know it wasn't in the 2000 election.

Back to School for 2007-2008 School Year

I'm back at school, and after the first week of being with children, I am happy to be starting my thirty-second and one-half year of teaching. Of course the first week is our honeymoon period. Ever student is on their best behavior. I'm still in their good graces and haven't asked them to do too much, yet. The smiles on my student's face makes every day I'm there worth the hard work it takes to do my job. We also have many new and young teachers on our staff. There is a lot of very positive energy and enthusiasm which I know will really help my school.

Every new school year is a new start with new hope. I even know that students who were difficult to work with last year, can be very different in the next. I'm often asked why I don't retire, well in what other profession can I begin a new each August, and have as much love in my life as I do with teaching. What other profession can I know that I have made a difference in some way for at least some of the people I've worked with. Also, in most other professions there are always “down times” that can be boring. There is never a boring minute in teaching.

I had a wonderful conversation with a girl in my advisory class about the death of Dulce and that of her first dog. The empathy of some 12 year old girls has delighted me over the years. Twelve year old girls often reinforce my belief that we have past lives and old or young souls. I've know too many twelve year old girls that had the grace, wisdom and presence that can only go with an old soul.

I'm still mourning the loss of Dulce, my cat that lived over twenty years. I miss waking up and finding her curled around my head on my pillow. I miss our twice daily ritual of the past 20 plus years of my stroking her soft back as she eats. I miss having her curl up in my lap, and the worst is not seeing her in the window watching and waiting for me to come home from school each day. I haven't stopped missing Tesuque, my other cat who died about one and one-half years ago. Or Polly, but the year that has passed helps. Dulce's death is so close by, and she was with me for so very long.

It is unfortunate to have had all our cats be about the same age because the loss of so many so close to each other has been devastating to us. We still have Quatro and Cassy, and we are giving them all our love. The death of their fellow cats has hit them in many aspects. They were always on the lower rung of the kitty social ladder. They were always the cats that weren't into cuddling. Quatro has always been on the edge between feral and tame, yet lately he is crawling into my lap more often. Of course never for very long, but I feel honored that he comes in the first place.

To my fellow teachers beginning school soon, remember that the love and caring you give your students will repay you time and time again. Start each year viewing every student, even those you already know too well, as perfect children. They will be more responsive to you if you do. Remind them everyday just how glad you are to be there, how much you love your subject and how much your job means to you. Show passion for your work, and tell them something unusual about your subject. Smile, smile, smile until your face knows nothing but smiling. Take the time to say something nice to as many students as you can. Thank your students for their good behavior from the first minute, and always try to be positive. Work hard to learn their names by their faces, not by where they sit, as soon as possible. I promise you this is the best way to start a new school year.