Category: current events
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Determined Blindness
A little while ago, a college friend of mine posted the following quote. I resonated so much with the quote, with the knowledge that how we should act in the time of this virus, emulating the self-sacrifice of the cross, has become typical of those who abhor the name of Christ in large part due…
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Differences in Compliance
*Editor’s note: I wrote this a few months ago and just discovered it. I thought it timely with the resurgence of the Delta variant and the start of a new school year.* One big difference both Mom and I noticed between our home and Hawaii was mask wearing compliance. Both of us have expressed frustration…
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Echo Chamber
Right now, my 8th graders are crafting arguments. We have spent the past few weeks working through various aspects of writing and analyzing arguments, things like the basic parts, types of credible evidence, understanding counterclaims and how to disprove them and how to explain how the evidence proves the claim. Back when I first introduced…
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Selective Agreement…or Disagreement
On January 18th, I posted a picture from the book I read at the time, The Presidents Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. I had come to the recounting of the 1960 election between Nixon and Kennedy and the telling of how Nixon responded to this electoral loss. Even though Nixon received reports of…
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Politics – A Handy Excuse
Today marks the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden. The Constitution dictated this date long before the outset of this presidential election season. If the election had yielded a different result, the inauguration would still take place on the same day at the same place. However, I have seen teachers…
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January 6, 2021
“I told you so” feels like hollow victory. For months I have watched as conspiracy theories took root in ever narrowing echo chambers. I saw how primed for a single spark this milieu became. The president delivered those words that served as the spark mere blocks from the Capitol building where Congress engaged in a…
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A day in the life of an election official
A day in the life of an election official. As we deal with the fallout from the most contentious election I can remember, many people have decided to question the veracity of vote totals and even the votes themselves, the ballots themselves. Many people make assumptions about how the process of vote counting is completed.…
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Never Trump
I have contemplated writing this post for months knowing not only the climate in which I live as well as the strength with which I vehemently oppose the man who currently holds the highest elected office in the country. I have never before made a specific appeal against a candidate and sincerely hope that I…
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Single Issue Politics – pro-life > anti-abortion
During every election season pollsters seek to discover the issues driving voters’ candidate selection. What issues do people feel most passionate about and base their votes upon. For so many in certain political circles within which I grew up firmly ensconced, the straw to potentially break the camel’s back is abortion. Many choose their candidate…
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Performative Boycotts
[I originally posted this directly to Facebook Sunday morning but wanted to post here as well.] For over a week, I took a break of sorts from scrolling through social media (Instagram and Facebook). The death of one of my former students consumed my emotional energy and I knew that the world had not stopped…