Shari Della Penna

What’s a Gig?

3/24/2020

The front lawn didn’t take long, but before I was done the next-door neighbor came to the fence, attracted by the dust cloud. He waved me over.
     . . .
“You mow lawns?” he asked. “How much?”
   And that was how it started.
from Lawn Boy
by Gary Paulsen
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, 2007

After I found out what the gig economy is, I realized how much I depend on it. We all do, really. I know lots of people who are part of it, or at least they were until last week or so. Covid 19 has most of it pretty much shut down.
   Turns out everyone who works independently, everyone who starts up his or her own business, everyone who works as a freelancer, is a gig worker, just like the narrator in the quote from Lawn Boy. The gig economy is named after musicians who are hired to play gigs. Their work may or may not be steady. It depends whether anyone wants their services.
   The gig economy is made up of all the independent workers. You know them. Hair stylists, house cleaners, dog walkers, the mechanic who works out of his garage, writers, artists, entertainers, Uber drivers (at least at this writing). It’s a long list. Probably farm workers are. For sure the people who have stalls in a Farmer’s Market.
   We depend on them, and our whole economy does.
   They pay taxes, probably more than big corporations do. They sometimes employ other people, too. According to https://www.lawcareers.net/Explore/CommercialQuestion/Travers-Smith-LLP-The-gig-economy-Uber-and-Deliveroo “[t]he 'gig economy' describes a working practice whereby individuals are paid for the 'gigs' they do rather than for their time.” The carpenter you hire to build your garage, the seamstress you pay to hem your new pants.
   You get the idea. I could probably complete all 800 words of this blog with a list of gig workers. I won’t. I’m thinking more about what they are all doing now that so many of us are sheltered in place.
   No one is asking for their services. Without work, there is no money coming in to pay for rent/mortgages, food, utilities, petcare, prescriptions, Bandaids, and especially toilet paper. (I still don’t understand the hoarding mentality of that.)
   Or taxes.
Gig workers mostly do *not* have paid health insurance or paid sick days.
   Our leaders in Congress are working out a plan to support those workers who are vital to keeping our economy going. The Federal Reserve assures us that in co-ordination with the Treasury Department, anyone who wants access to his or her cash will be able to retrieve it. Small business loans will be easy to get and some will be forgiven under certain conditions. Loans for big businesses will be available, too.
   Unemployment payments are the responsibility of the individual states. The Federal government says it will help.
   Millions of people will use these resources to move from day to day while we shelter in place. Most impacted, though, are the gig workers. And there isn’t a whole lot we can do about it. We’re told to stay home unless we need to refill our prescriptions, or other medical issues. Or buy food. Here in Ohio restaurants are still allowed to provide food for customers on a carry-out or delivery basis only. Ohio’s list of what is open and what’s not is at https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/03/whats-open-closed-under-ohios-stay-at-home-order.html Those neighborhood restaurants are full of gig workers.
   So I started thinking about the shelter-in-place order. I understand that this rogue virus needs to be contained. I know that you don’t always know you have it, so the rampant infection is spreading wildly. I know there is no cure (yet) or even medicine to relieve the symptoms, but it feels like we’re going around this whole thing kinda inside-out.
   We have always been told to stay home when we’re sick. In other words, we isolate the sick people and the people who are well can go about their business, gig workers, or employees, or CEOs, or anyone else. This time we’re isolating all the people who are well (and those who are sick or might be) and no one can go out or about.
   I’m not complaining. For introverts like me, this isolation is a respite from the demands I feel in my former, normal day to day. I relish the time I can stay home. I don’t miss being around people. I have to remind myself to call my friends, and I do. I know most people are not like me. And I really do feel for them. Really.
   So I guess the best advise I can give myself is to keep calling my friends, or text, or email. Keep physically not socially distant. To move around. A couple of flights of steps in the morning, laps around the island in the kitchen while I’m making dinner. It’s easy for me to curl up on my big, green chair with a book and stay there for a few hours. And wash my hands!
   Mom was really right about that!
-—stay curious! (and patient)

0 Comments

Keeping My (Safe Physical) Distance

3/17/2020

2 Comments

Too wet to go out
And too cold to play ball.
So we sat in the house.
We did nothing at all.

So all we could do was to
Sit!
   Sit!
       Sit!
           Sit!
And we did not like it.
Not one little bit.
from The Cat in the Hat
by Dr. Seuss
Random House/Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957

   We are all faced with the same issue. What do you do when everything is closed and there’s nowhere to go. When the restaurants closed at the end of business on Sunday, it felt like there was more to come. Every group I belong to, formal or informal, hd already sent email letting me know the meeting or activity or event was cancelled or postponed.
   Most of you who know me well, can imagine my relief. Although I am active and I like to be involved in community activities doing good work, I push myself because I know it’s good for me to be among people, especially like-minded people. It’s good for everyone, really, because like the saying goes, “many hands make light work.”
   I feel like all my obligations have evaporated, and it feels pretty good. And I know it’s temporary.
   Some people are people people, though. The lack of having something to do and someone to do it with weighs heavy on their hands and minds. The inability to make a difference in a committee’s good work is frustrating. Not able to volunteer, not able to meet friends for lunch, not able to workout at the gym. It feels like the whole world has ground to a screeching halt.
   The whole world has just come to a screeching, grinding halt.
   Today was supposed to be Ohio’s Primary. I love to vote on Election Day, so I didn’t vote absentee or choose to vote early. But yesterday, the governor exercised caution and concern for poll workers as well as the general public and postponed our Primary until June 2. Short of an invasion, he really can’t do that, legally. He does not have the authority. Setting dates for Elections is a function of the Legislature. Legal action will be taken against him, but it will probably come to nothing.
   I just downloaded an application for my absentee ballot. As soon as my ballot arrives, I will fill it in and return it. So far, the Post Office is still open and the dedicated postal workers are still working.
   So what in the world is going on? Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard of the virus going around.
   Not enough tests, not fast enough test results, not enough hospital beds, not enough ventilators, not enough personal protection equipment (PPE), makes this pandemic especially frightening.
   Not knowing what will happen next or how fast or where is especially unsettling. Most people do not thrive on change. I’m one of those. I like things to stay the same.
   The new Coronavirus has changed all that. COVID 19.
   Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause many illnesses including the common cold, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
   COVID 19 is a new strain that was discovered in 2019. It had not previously been seen in humans. It is more contagious than the flu or even SARS, or MERS. Infected people do not even know they are sick unless they have symptoms, a dry cough, shortness of breath, and a fever are the most common. So people can be carriers of COVID 19 and not even know it.
   That’s why doors are slamming shut.
   It’s incredibly sad to think of weddings receptions postponed, 50th anniversary parties, 80th or 100th birthday celebrations, baptisms, bar/bat mitzvah celebrations, confirmations, graduations, and of course funerals.
   We are social animals. We need each other. We need to be in community. So like Sally and her narrator brother in The Cat in the Hat, we can Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! or we can Skype or Facetime our friends and family, live stream meetings (I think!), message pictures to each other.
   My best virtual friend is Libby, the library e-source for books. It’s easy to download her from your library’s website to your phone, tablet or computer. The books are free. You can usually renew them. The library is full of wonderful digital sources, too. Try www.libraryvisit.org then click on the blue “Our Collection” tab.
   I took a walk today. So few cars were out that I could listen to the birds. I heard robins, cardinals, sparrows, crows, and some that I didn’t recognize. The Audubon Society’s website is great for listening to bird songs and identify them. https://www.audubon.org/birds Or try “bird songs” on Google and listen to some of them on YouTube. Or get the free TED app for an interesting listen.
   My backyard garden is calling me. The weather is sporadically warm and sunny. I plan to take advantage of the time away from my obligations and clean up out there, at least a little.
   I don’t mean to make light of this pandemic. It is real. More and more people will become sick. There is a limit to what we can do to prevent that. You’ve heard it all.
   Keep a safe physical distance, cover your coughs and sneezes, and wash your hands. Shop, but leave some cleaning products and paper products for your fellow shoppers. Grocery stores will stay open. They will re-stock.
   Not related to the virus, a corona is the plasma around the sun that we can see during an eclipse. It extends millions of miles into space. We need the total darkness of an eclipse to see the brightness of the corona.
   I choose to acknowledge, prepare, and respect the darkness, and appreciate the brightness I can see as a result.
The two best places to get current info about COVID 19:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/index.html#
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
-—stay curious! (and keep your safe distance)

2 Comments

Making Census of the Numbers

3/10/2020

0 Comments

Millions of fingers!
Millions of thumbs!
Millions of monkeys
Drumming on drums!

Dum ditty Dum ditty
Dum dum dum
from Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
written by Al Perkins
illustrated by Eric Gurney
Random House, 1969

As we approach April 1, no kidding, we also approach the decennial census. Once every ten years, our Constitution mandates counting all the people to ensure everyone is represented fairly. Sounds straightforward. Here’s the language from the Consitution, itself:
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after
the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within
every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they
      shall by Law direct.
-—Article 1, Section 2 of the United States Constitution
   The first census was taken in 1790. George Washington was serving his first term as President. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson was in charge of gathering and making sense of the numbers. That year, the population was 3,929,625. Congress used the results to apportion 105 seats among fifteen states.
   Sounds good until a closer investigation reveals that not “all men [and women] are created equal” after all. The number of free persons were counted, even those who were indentured servants, as long as they were bound for a finite amount of time. Enslaved people were only counted as 3/5 of a person, so the representation was skewed in favor of free and potentially-free people. Native Americans were not counted at all since they were not required to pay taxes.
   Most everyone was counted, then, whether they were citizens or not, whether they were born in the United States or somewhere else, even if they were not allowed to vote.
   Native Americans living in the general population began being counted in 1860.
   When the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 28, 1865, citizenship was granted to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” which included former enslaved people who had just been freed after the Civil War. Each person now was fully counted as a whole person.
   It wasn’t until 1900, that Native people living on reservations were counted. While Native Tribes are exempt from taxes, individuals pay income tax on money earned on or off the Reservations. And with the United States Citizenship Act of 1924, Native Americans were acknowledged as citizens. It took the Voting Rights Act in 1957 to guarantee their right to vote. (Even today, in official communications, they are referred to as Indians. https://www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/decennial_census_records/censuses_of_american_indians.html)
   Congressional representation is based on the Census. The number of representatives assigned to each state is determined by the number of people living in each state. States may gain or lose any number of representatives, based on their current population. And numbers of representatives can change every ten years. Each state sends the number of its Representatives plus two (for the Senators) to the Electoral College. (Check last week’s post for more about the Electoral College)
   After each Census, state officials re-draw the boundaries of their congressional and state legislative districts for the sole purpose of apportioning representatives.
   In the mid-1960s, the Supreme Court decided that a similar number of people should reside in each district. Sometimes, after a Census is tallied, an area needs to be re-drawn so a more consistent number of people can be represented. Gerrymandering comes into play when the lines are re-drawn to favor one political party or another. (see “Gerry Who?” June 4, 2019 if you want more of my take.)
   The Census is a population count. Although the intension of the Census is valid, to count the number of people living in the United States for the purpose of making our democracy more representative, we are moving, slooowly, in the direction of fairness.
   In 1830, US Marshalls gathered Census information. They received official schedules to record the information they collected.
   Specially hired and trained census-takers replaced the US Marshalls in 1880. These temporary government workers went door-to-door to gather their information.
   The U.S. Census Bureau began mailing questionnaires to households in 1960.
   And now for the first time, we are able to access our Census forms on line. The form can be completed in many, many languages. A comprehensive 9-1/2 minute video is at https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html
   The results are used by people who make crucial decisions in each community, and on regional, state, and federal levels. At stake is $675,000,000,000 (675 billion) for schools, (grants to support teachers and special education) roads and highways, (grants for public transportation), availability of school lunches and funding for HeadStart, support for firefighters and hospitals, and disaster response. And this is a very partial list.
   Census data is as secure as anything can be in this day and age. It is used statistically to allocate money to the places that need it the most.
   If you don’t opt to complete your census on-line, a form will be mailed to you. You can also choose to complete it over the phone. A census worker will come to your house sometime May through July to collect your information if you haven’t completed the information by then.
   The Census website is really very informative. From FAQs to security related issues try https://2020census.gov/en.html
   And while the numbers won’t be ready to re-apportion the Electoral College for the 2020 election, 2021 will be here before we know it.

-—stay curious! (and count yourself in. Count those you love, too)

0 Comments

So Long, Seuss!

3/3/2020

1 Comment

[Dad] frowned at me sternly from there in his seat,
   “Was there nothing to look at . . .no people to greet?
   Did nothing excite you or make your heart beat?”
“Nothing,” I said, growing red as a beet,
“But a plain horse and wagon on Mulberry Street.”
from And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss
Random House, 1937

One hundred and sixteen years ago yesterday, March 2, 1904, the world of children’s literature changed. Dr. Seuss had just been born.
   In his lifetime, he published over 60 books beginning in 1937, with his first children’s title And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street. It’s a fanciful romp through a boy’s imagination as he thinks of something exciting to tell his dad about the walk home from school. All he saw was a cart and a horse, but he embellished the tale so much in his imagination that we can’t help but laugh.
   Even at the stereotyped illustrations of the “Rajah, with rubies, perched high on a throne” (on an elephant) and “A Chinese man/Who eats with sticks.”
   At the end of the story, the boy from Mulberry Street, even with his fantastic imagination, tell his father the truth.
   Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat at the request of his editor at Random House, a dare, really. A study showed American kids weren’t reading as well as they could. His challenge was to write a story with a very limited vocabulary that appealed to kids. It took him a year, but The Cat in the Hat was born with 236 words in 1957. Kids loved to read that book. Reading scores improved. Dr. Seuss wrote more and more rhyming, funny picture books. And lots of tongue-twisters, too.
   In 1971, just as people were beginning to talk about saving trees and conservation, Dr. Seuss published The Lorax, an environmental masterpiece.
   So why after more than 20 years has the National Education Association backed away from celebrating Seuss? To put it simply, they are changing their focus. Even just a quick glance at their home page, https://www.readacrossamerica.org , shows cute kids, cartoon and real, interacting with grown-ups and books.
   They encourage everyone to “join us as we celebrate a nation of diverse readers with these recommended books, authors, and teaching resources that represent an array of experiences and cultures.”
There is no room for stereotypes, bullies, exclusivism of any kind. And that is a good thing.
   We have become, lately, a divided nation. Some people are full of hatred fueled by fear. Some others, I like to think a large group of thinkers and doers, work for a pluralistic, inclusive, society to bring up children where kindness is an important value and learning about each other is encouraged.
   So maybe a slide to the side of Seuss is warranted. Maybe it’s time to make room for diversity. Maybe it’s time to modernize. After all, Dr. Seuss was 87 years old when he died in 1991. Aside from a few manuscripts published posthumously and a collaboration between Lane Smith and Jack Prelutsky who finished and illustrated the incomplete manuscript Hooray! For Diffendoofer Day in Seuss’s style, Seuss’s works must stand the test of time on their own. I believe they do. Here are some of my favorites.
   The Sneetches and Other Stories In the title story, the bullies and their targets are all so taken with a machine that gives out stars and erases them, that by the end of the story, no one could tell the bad guys from the good guys. They all lived happily ever after, together.
   The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins As soon as Bartholomew removes his hat to show respect for the king, another hat appears. The king strikes a deal with Bartholomew. He gives Bartholomew 500 pieces of gold in exchange for the 500 hats, each one (after the 450th) more elegant than the one before. Fairness plays out for all.
   Horton Hatches the Egg In an unlikely turn of events, Horton, an elephant, sits (most gently) on Mayzie the Lazy Bird’s egg while she vacations in Florida. When the egg hatches, it is a most fetching combination of elephant and bird. Promises kept are rewarded.
   The Lorax In speaking for the trees, the Lorax exposes humanity’s over-dependence on Nature and the destruction caused by greed. A warning ahead of its time.
   If you want to see a list (annotated) of all Seuss’s works for kids, try https://www.best-books-for-kids.com/list-of-dr-seuss-books.html Scroll down a little and click on each title for more info.

Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Seuss was a man of his day. Using stereotypes was a common shorthand for those in the majority. And he used them. It was wrong and hurtful, but it’s part of our history, and his.
   At the beginning of WWII, Theodor Geisel contributed political cartoons to a liberal magazine. Since he was too old for the draft but wanted to serve, he made animated training films and drew propaganda posters for the Treasury Department. Most were not appropriate for children. Some of his books command an adult audience, too.
   Everything changes in this world of ours. Dr. Seuss taught us to take care of our earth, take care of each other, and to allow ourselves and our children to have fun.
His books will live on. American kids will continue to read.
   Thank you Dr. Seuss.
-—stay curious! (and read for fun)

1 Comment

Going to College…Electorially

2/25/2020

0 Comments

  A candidate doesn’t need to win electoral votes from all states. They can win the the votes of fewer than half the states [and still win the election.]
from: What is the Electoral College?
by Santana Hunt
illustrated with photos used by permission
Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2018

   Our election system is complicated.
   Here’s what I found out after reading several children’s books, various web pages, and encyclopedia articles about how our votes are counted:
   Our election system is complicated.

   First of all, The United States is a Republic, not a Democracy, depending on whose definition you use. The writers of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Ben Franklin, and the rest, did that on purpose. They had a very clear understanding of law and language. Clear enough to be ambiguous, open to interpretation. This is usually a good thing.
   Here’s what Meriam-Webster says:
       Republic, “a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law.”
       Democracy, “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.”
   The difference: in a democracy, the people vote directly or indirectly through a system of representation. So democracies are more common on a local level: city government; school boards; state officials; but nationally, we are a Republic. (I think)
   People we choose to represent us vote for our president. The national parties allocate to each state a certain number of delegates based on complex formulas. https://electoral-vote.com/evp2016/Info/delegates.html These delegates are chosen at the conclusion of each state’s primary. The Democratic Party uses a proportional method for determining the amount of delegates each candidate wins.
   HERE’S WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO VOTE IN YOUR PRIMARY:
   Delegates are awarded based on a percentage of the popular vote.

Here’s an alphabetical list (by state or territory) to find out when your Presidential Primary is held. https://www.fvap.gov/guide/appendix/state-elections

The Democratic Party has two types of delegates, pledged and unpledged. A superdelegate is just another name for an unpledged delegate. The number of pledged and unpledged is figured out using a complicated formula.
   The following definitions are from https://www.usa.gov/voting-and-election-definitions

Pledged, or bound delegates must support the candidate they were awarded to through the primary or caucus process.
Unpledged delegates can support any presidential candidate they choose. Superdelegates is another name for unpledged delegates.

   Only the Democratic Party has unpledged or superdelegates. They were established in 1984 to give party officials more say in the election process.

Remember: Delegates are chosen by a complicated formula that includes the popular vote each candidate wins during their respective State Primary Elections or Caucuses.
   Thousands of people are delegates, 2,470 Republicans and 4,483 Democrats. https://electoral-vote.com/evp2016/Info/delegates.html They vote at their respective Party’s Nominating Convention. To become the presidential nominee, a candidate typically has to win a majority of delegates.
   But if no candidate gets the majority during the primaries and caucuses, convention delegates choose the nominee. This happens through additional rounds of voting and is called a Brokered Convention. Most delegates are permitted to vote for whichever candidate they choose, allowing for input from party leadership and political maneuvering. Additional votes are taken until a majority is reached. https://ballotpedia.org/Brokered_conventions
   It is unlikely that a person chosen as a party’s candidate through a Brokered Convention will go on to win the National Election. I don’t know why, but here’s a chart: https://ballotpedia.org/Brokered_conventions Scroll down for the Democratic chart. Scroll past that to see the Republican chart.

Did you notice? I haven’t even gotten to the Electoral College yet, but here goes.
Once the Party’s Conventions have taken place and the nominees are chosen by the delegates, we’re ready for the General Election and the Electoral College.
   Each state has laws for how Electors are chosen. Generally they are party faithfuls, committed to their respective Political Parties.
   Each state has a number of Electors equal to the number of the state’s Representatives plus 2, one for each Senator. “Faithless Electors” are members of the Electoral College who, for whatever reason, do not vote for their party's designated candidate. Most states require faithfulness, but there are no consequences for failure to comply. https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_electors Each Elector usually votes for his or her Party’s nominee. A simple majority of the 538 electoral votes (270), is needed to win.
   The Electoral College votes are counted in Congress on January 6, following the November general election. States with larger populations have more Electors making it possible for a candidate to win the overall popular vote but not win the electoral vote. Lots of states with only 3 or a few Electors can add up to a majority of Electors. That’s what happened in 2016.
   Over the years, 700 hundred attempts to change the Electoral College have been proposed. It will take a Constitutional Amendment and is unlikely to happen in my lifetime.
   In short, our Presidential Election is complicated. It is a several-step process, beginning with the primaries and delegates and ending with the Electoral College vote and Inauguration on January 20.
   Each person’s vote carries weight. Maybe more so in local elections, but if more people actually exercise their constitutional right to cast a ballot in a Presidential election, the more influence we, as individuals will have.
-—stay curious! (and vote)

0 Comments

Eeny Meeny Miney Mo!

2/18/2020

0 Comments

…would you rather be
a letter?
well then, which one would you be?
Would you rather be a curly one
like j or s or g
or would your rather
be a sharpie
like k or z or v?
from Would you rather be a Bullfrog?
by Dr. Seuss writing as Theo. LeSieg
illustrated by Roy McKie
Random House Children's Books, 1975

I’d like to say I’m a round, curly letter. I flow along, but I only do that sometimes. Some other times I can be pretty stubborn, prickly, a sharpie. After all, who doesn’t like to be right?
   When we were kids and needed to choose teams, or which hair ribbon to wear, or who got to sit in the front seat of the car, we chanted “eeny meeny miney mo, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers, let him go, eeny meeny miney mo.” Maybe you did, too. It seemed fair. The choice was random.
   Some people are good decision makers. Some let life choose for them, kinda like riding a wave at the beach. Maybe that’s what the phrase “go with the flow” really means.
   But making a good decision involves much more than choosing a pet or picking out a dress, or insisting on being right, life-changing as those can be. Important to the process is seeing the big picture. While no one can know for sure what the implications of a particular decision will be, most of us understand how the world works, how one thing usually follows another.
   Some decisions are deliberate. I asked to keep a cat when I was growing up. Of course, it was my parents' decision to say “yes,” but I started the ball rolling with the question. Even now, I’d rather share my life with a cat (or several) than a dog. I like to visit my kids and grandkids. Cats can take care of themselves if I’m only gone a day or two. And I know someone who is kind, dependable, and full of common sense that will fill in if I’m gone longer than that. (You know who you are…Thanks!)
   To me dogs are like children who never grow up. As cute and fun to be with as most of the ones I know are, I’m a little too selfish to share that much of my life. It’s a good thing to know before making a doggie-decision.
   Many years ago I took my older daughter to look for a dress to wear to her high school Homecoming Dance. It was very hard for her to make up her mind. Part of the problem … too many choices. She looked good in everything she tried on, and I only let her try on the ones in my price range. Her field was large. Her options were many, and the qualities she looked for were present in many of her choices. It was hard to make a good decision. But she finally narrowed it down to two, then one. Her decision was deliberate, but not life-changing, really.
   She came home energized, I came home exhausted.
   The deliberate decision we will make in November will be life-changing, without a doubt. Our choices are many. Most of the candidates have qualities we are looking for. Many questions are still unanswered.
   And right now is the time to be informed, or to stay informed. YouTube can catch you up on the previous debates. Is there anything NOT on Youtube?
   Tune in live to the debate tomorrow from 9-11 pm on NBC, if you can. One more will take place the following week, February 25 (CBS), and another on March 15 (CNN). The date for the last one has not been announced yet.
   And the Primaries are in full-force. When we vote in our Primary, we are choosing delegates. Voting in the Primary is important for many reasons. One is a perception thing. Someone who gets a lot of attention (and votes) is perceived to be a winner. Another is the math. Presidents are chosen by delegates to the Electoral College. More on that next week.
   Super Tuesday is March 3, 2020. About 33 percent of total pledged delegates will be chosen in contests held that day (and during early voting held in some of those states). Ohio’s Primary, is March 17, where I’ll be voting. Florida, Illinois, and Arizona also have primaries that day. By March 17, at midnight then, about 61 percent of pledged delegates will have been chosen.
   If you live somewhere other than Ohio, check the National Council of State Legislatures for the full Primary schedule: https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/2020-state-primary-election-dates.aspx# Scroll down past the introduction for an alphabetical state by state list of dates.
   I think the Electoral College is complicated, out of date, and probably unfair. But I’ll do some research this week and report back next Tuesday.
   In November, we will be exhausted, I’m sure. I hope, exhilarated, too.
   Until then,
-—stay curious! (and choose wisely)

0 Comments

What's a Deficit?

2/11/2020

0 Comments

“The money we earned is called our PROFIT,” explains Penny. “And that is what we will give Bunny for the plumbing repairs.”
from Pretty Penny Makes Ends Meet
written and illustrated by Devon Kinch
Random House Children’s Books, 2013

My allowance was not pay for completing chores. Chores were what we did because we lived in a family and helped each other get along. Allowance was what my parents gave me because I was part of the family. Some of my friends got paid for doing chores. If you didn’t do the work, you didn’t get the pay. I’m not sure which was more socialist, but I continued getting allowance until I got my first job, babysitting. Even fifty cents per hour was a big improvement over my negotiated allowance. I’m sure I never got more than a couple of dollars per week.
   Don’t get me wrong, my parents were generous. If my brother and I wanted to go to the movies, they bought the tickets, we bought the treats. They bought our clothes, we could save up for accessories. But we didn’t have extra money. Mom sometimes played the bill-paying shuffle. One month she put the phone bill in the electric bill envelope. Back in those days, a person would actually call and you could straighten it out over the phone. What Mom really bought was a little time. I don’t know how often she did that. I don’t know how often other people did it. Were the utilities smart enough to know what was happening, or did they play along because the world was nicer then?
   Mom taught me how to make a budget. My meager allowance was recorded in one column on a piece of graph paper. I recorded everything I bought and subtracted the amount from a running total. That’s still a useful exercise when I start wondering where my money’s going.
Honesty and a good memory are important.
   That’s the way a budget works. You have some money. You spend some. You have some left. But what if I spent more than I had? Well, that was trouble. There was no such thing as credit in my growing-up house. We didn’t get advances, either. So what if I really wanted something? I had to save up my dimes and quarters until I had enough.
   My parents taught me the definition of their mortgage. The bank gave them enough money to buy a house. Then, they paid the bank back, little by little, plus some extra because the bank let us borrow the money in the first place. That sounded fair to my ten-year-old brain. But a 30 year mortgage was almost an unbelievably long time.
   Cities have budgets. States do, too. Even our country has a budget. And the president made his announcement yesterday. It is controversial. Of course. But the radio station I mostly listen to kindly explained that it isn’t really a budget, per se. It is a wish list. Congress gets to make the final decisions, then gives it back for approval. That will take a lot of time, a lot of arguments, a lot of letters to senators and representatives.
   So what is in that wish list? He says he wants to root out “waste and fraud.” His chopping block items include health care, student loans/debt forgiveness, affordable housing, Medicare and Medicaid, food subsidies (SNAP: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), issues affecting the environment like the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, funding for National Parks, roll-backs to emissions standards for factories and vehicles.
   He also wants to keep that income tax credit in place for his wealthy friends and increase money to the military. I thought we were going to stop funding “endless wars?” And the Space Force needs military money, too. But that’s a topic for another day.
   All this for $4,800,000,000,000.00 ($4.8 trillion) which will add $3,400,000,000,000.00 ($3.4 trillion) to the national debt by 2024 (four years from now, hmmm).
   Back on September 3, 2019, I posted a blog about the national debt when it was about $22 trillion. I found out that four trillion one-dollar bills laid end to end will reach all the way from the earth to the moon. So that’s a lot of money.
   Part of the $4.8 trillion must go to pay down the national debt. It’s a law. But deficit spending continues. And the national debt continues to rise. Clearly, living within our means as a country, as a society, is not realistic.
   Investing in our future, though, that’s something we could do. Helping each other live well, teaching our children the importance of planning and implementing ideas that will benefit the most people and make the biggest positive impact, doing what we can to protect our Earth and the life she sustains, we can start there.
   Here’s the link to the Senate’s recap of the president’s proposed 2020 budget. https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SBC%20Trump%20Budget%20Reaction%203-20-19%20FINAL.pdf
   Use this link to find your representative in the US Congress, your state, your county, and your city. http://myreps.datamade.us Type in your address and click the search button. Decide which item is most important and write a letter to whoever needs to hear your ideas.

-—stay curious! (and sharpen your pencil)

0 Comments

I Love an Award!

2/4/2020

0 Comments

Surprise!
it’s a book party
Stacked with all your favorite
friends:
A picnic of
words + sounds
in leaps + bounds.
Read
from: How to Read a Book
by Kwame Alexander
art by Melissa Sweet
HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2019

   Each January, The American Library Association announces its Book and Media Awards. Most important of those are the Newbery and Caldecott. For a complete list of the current winners, look here: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia Scroll down on the left side to click on the different awards.
   The Caldecott and Newbery Awards, are each chosen by dedicated groups of fifteen knowledgeable and practiced librarians. The Newbery Committee also includes a consultant, and a staff liaison. The decisions of these committee members come with a heavy dose of responsibility, and no monetary reward. Members apply and are chosen by distinguished panels. Committee members agree to volunteer their service for a two year term.
   Volunteers’ libraries need to agree, too, since the obligation involves hours and hours of reading boxes and boxes of books. I’ve heard former members of the committees describe their experiences as daunting, exhausting, and exhilarating.
   The Caldecott Medal, named for Randolph Caldecott, a 19th century artist whose humor appealed to children, has been awarded since 1938. The award is given yearly to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
   This year’s Caldecott Award Committee selected The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Kwame Alexander. Although Kadir Nelson has won two Caldecott Honor Medals, this is his first Caldecott win. Look here for examples of his remarkable work. https://www.kadirnelson.com
   The Undefeated speaks the unspeakable. Published by Versify, a new imprint of HoughtonMifflin: "[The book] highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world's greatest heroes. … [T]his poem is a love letter to black life in the United States."
   Julie Roach, this year’s Chair of the Caldecott Committee said, “Through color and composition, Kadir Nelson’s daring visuals erupt off the page. They challenge our emotional capacity in this layered journey of heroes.”
   The Newbery Award is named for John Newbery, (1713 -1767) the Father of Children’s Literature. When he noticed a lack of appropriate literature for children, he decided to do something about it. He published and wrote over 200 books. Two are still notable, A Pretty Pocket-Book (1744), called the first children's book and The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765), a Cinderella variant. He was a bookseller, too. He marketed his books with toys and bright colors. He was not only the first writer of children’s books, he was the first to make the endeavor profitable. And both titles are still in print.
   This year for the first time, a graphic novel took the Newbery Medal. Jerry Craft’s New Kid, according to Krishna Grady, Chair of the Newbery Medal Committee, “[is a] distinct, timely, and honest story [that] respects children and gives its readers a glimpse into what it means to be other.” The committee chose this book as the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children in the 2019 publishing year.
   Jerry’s comic strip, “Mama’s Boyz,” was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1995 to 2013. He’s been working on picture books, middle-grade novels and graphic novels ever since. In his own words, “… I set out to create something that I would have fun doing, and I had an absolute blast!” In his new, award-winning book, he describes how a new black kid feels in a mostly white middle school. And he does it with humor.
   Truth is, I’ve never read a graphic novel. I’ve read my share of comic books, Archie and Veronica was my favorite. I’ve read the first four or five books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinny and a few Captain Underpants titles by Dav Pilkey. Those aren’t really graphic novels, though. I just finished Kate Hannigan’s first book in her new series Cape, an action-packed story about three girls who discover their super powers. In this one, they help foil a Nazi plot. Like Diary and the Captain, it is also told partly in graphic novel style. So I’ve cut my teeth on those. I’m ready for New Kid.
   In this day and age of uncertainty underlined with fear and hatred, I’m proud that the American Library Association chose two books that feature African American subjects for their most prestigious awards. The Newbery is written and illustrated by an African American and the Caldecott, illustrated (and written) by two African Americans.
   Well done! and Congratulations to all!
-—stay curious! (and well-read)

0 Comments

Tick-Tock Doomsday Clock

1/28/2020

2 Comments

Hickory dickory dix,
The clock on the barn said six
A hen joined the group
When they charged through the coop
And frightened her new little chicks.
from The Clock Struck One: A Time-telling Tale
written by Trudy Harris
illustrated by Carrie Hartman
Millbrook Press, 2009
I know time only moves in one direction…forward, but it’s hard for me to understand how the same event can happen simultaneously at different times in different places. But no matter.
   The Doomsday Clock just moved ahead. It’s a clock that can move in more than one direction. Backward is much, much better.
   But, last Thursday, January 23, 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock forward. It is now set at 100 seconds before midnight.
   The Doomsday Clock was devised in 1947 by scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project, the people who developed the science and technology to create an atomic bomb. The Board of Sponsors, which includes 13 Nobel laureates from all over the world, consults with each other and announces each January whether to move the clock, or keep it in place. They chose a minute hand as their graphic description to show how much danger the world is in, how close we are to annihilation, self-inflicted or otherwise. And now they’re marking the second-hand, too.
   But the clock is a metaphor, not a predictor.
   When it began in 1947, the clock was set at 7 minutes to midnight, taking nuclear technology into account along with the end of WWII and the gradual warming of the Cold War.
After a relatively long spate of stability, nuclear disarmament, and an unawareness of the general warming leading to the current Climate Crisis, 1991 saw the clock set at 19 minutes to midnight, the safest we’ve been. The clock has been ticking forward ever since.
   In 2007, when the climate was factored in by the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, they moved the Clock to 5 minutes before midnight. They considered global failures to solve the problems posed by nuclear weapons and the climate crisis in that January 17th announcement.
   Now we are counting in seconds, not minutes. The amount of instability in the world, the numbers of countries capable of creating nuclear arms, and the deteriorating status of our climate have given cause to the clock-markers to move the time ahead 20 seconds to its current position, less than a minute and a half before midnight.
   “In so doing, board members are explicitly warning leaders and citizens around the world that the international security situation is now more dangerous than it has ever been, even at the height of the Cold War.” https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
   According to a USA Today article, it is the twin existential dangers, nuclear war and climate change, combined with “a threat multiplier, cyber-enabled information warfare, that undercuts society’s ability to respond.” (January 24, 2020. Pg 14A)
   The prevention of a nuclear war is far beyond my control. I don’t even understand enough about cyber-enabled information warfare to comment. So all I have left is whatever positive impact I can make on the climate.
   We are not living in a world where “stress-free” is an option. But to minimize the harmful effects on my little life here on my speck in the universe, I’ll live as cleanly and simply as I can. Minimize my use of consumables, reuse, refuse plastic whenever possible, you know the routine.
   Plant a tree, or a dozen.
   Every little bit helps, even if it only helps my own sanity so I am able to help others.
-—stay curious! (and positive)

2 Comments

All For One and One For All

1/21/2020

0 Comments

One world, one home
One world home for everyone.
One dream, one song
One song heard by everyone.
from: One Light, One Sun
written by Raffi
illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1988

Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the third Monday in January, a day set aside to honor a great visionary, activist, and unifier. The United States has been celebrating this national holiday since 1986. A campaign to create it, though, began just four days after Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
   Not everyone held Martin Luther King, Jr., in high esteem. Actually, he was quite controversial in his own time. In a note written by J. Edgar Hoover in 1965, Hoover suggested Dr. King perform suicide to avoid the embarrassment of being exposed as a Communist.
   Can you imagine!?
   Of course, the accusation was false. It was a common tactic in those days of the 1950s and 1960s to accuse people of being Communists to keep them from speaking truth to power.
   Coretta Scott King believed in her husband’s message of peace, though. She and Stevie Wonder worked together tirelessly to convince Congress that we, as a nation, needed to honor the memory of our “icon of democracy.”
   Thirteen years into the struggle to make the national holiday dream come true, Stevie Wonder released a rendition of “Happy Birthday” to a posthumous King. Here’s the link to the YouTube recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inS9gAgSENE Two years later, in 1983, a congressional bill passed the House 338 to 90. When the bill reached the Senate, a spate of racism took over.
   But, with President Reagan’s defense of Dr. King, the bill passed out of the Senate (78 to 22) and finally, three years after that, in 1986, Reagan signed it into law. In the president’s own words, “[Martin Luther King] challenged us to make real the promise of America as a land of freedom, equality, opportunity, and brotherhood.”
   Some of us are still working toward those goals. Some others of us are not.
   As I write this, the sun is shining, the air is warm, and the sidewalks are full of spectators. I had the grand plan to find a spot toward the beginning of the parade and salute each flag as it marched past, applaud each high school band, and wave to lucky kids who got to ride in the cars of city councilors and police officers.
   I am on vacation in a city I’ve visited many times, but I don’t really feel like I “belong” here. I was comfortable in my side-lined spot when, imagine this! not one, but two friends from home called to me and my husband and encouraged us to march with them.
   And, even though I was a comfortable spectator, we decided to join the people making a difference. We stepped up to march proudly with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Naples.
   At first, marching in the MLK parade in Naples, Florida, seemed like the epitome of irony. Naples boasts one of the wealthiest economies in the United States and is consistently ranked as one of the best places to retire. The crowd is anything but diverse. People consider shopping a hobby. Maseratis, Jaguars, and Bentleys slide past each other in lanes of traffic next to Rolls Royces, Ferraris, and lots of sporty cars I can’t even name. Designer clothes and shoes and bags are as common here as McDonald’s and Wal-Mart are at home.
   Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man of the people. He believed the words of the Constitution that proclaim all [people] are equal. He worked for liberty and justice for all. He continually preached a message of encouragement to downtrodden, overwhelmed, poor people who had given up on the American Dream.
   In words from his collection of sermons published in 1963, Strength to Love, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.”
   “All for one and one for all” rings as true today as it did in when Alexander Dumas had his three musketeers speak it in 1844. It is only when all the members of a group support each of the individual members, and the individual members pledge to support the group, that mighty progress will happen. When we work together toward common goals, encouraging compassion and building a productive society, democracy will flourish.
   In the end, whether you drive a Bentley, a Ford pick-up or a Prius, whether you love to shop or love to support social action (or both), whether you are charitable or need to receive charity, know that we are more alike than different.
   And the similarities are much more important. Really.
-—stay curious! (and be a unifier)

0 Comments

<<Previous

"Live life as the work of art you are."
Abraham Joshua Heschl (1907-1972)
Rabbi, Humanitarian, Peace Activist

What’s a Gig?

Keeping My (Safe Physical) Distance

Making Census of the Numbers

So Long, Seuss!

Going to College…Electorially

Eeny Meeny Miney Mo!

What's a Deficit?

I Love an Award!

Tick-Tock Doomsday Clock

All For One and One For All

I'm a children's writer and poet intent on observing the world and nurturing those I find in my small space .

Archives

"Live life as the work of art you are."Abraham Joshua Heschl (1907-1972)Rabbi, Humanitarian, Peace Activist​

I'm a children's writer and poet intent on observing the world and nurturing those I find in my small space .

Archives

"Live life as the work of art you are."
Abraham Joshua Heschl (1907-1972)
Rabbi, Humanitarian, Peace Activist