ok so as we near the election I have to say a few things. Everyone is allowed their opinions- and I would love to listen to anyone who disagrees with me as long as they are not attacking me- which I find is impossible in the teachers lounge. Thats another story though. I am not going to talk about either one of the candidates because 1. i cant vote and 2. I dont like either of them. BUt what I do want to talk about it the 3 questions that are going to be on the ballot for MA this Nov. 4. So if you are living in MA and are going to vote and havent thought very much about them yet- I ask you to do some research so that you will at least make an intellgent vote and not be surprised last mintue when you go to cast your presidential vote because they are very important. THe first question is what is most important- this is because I am a teacher in a subject that is not tested on MCAS which means could be cut if there was not enough funding. The threat is there- we already had a freeze put on our budget for this year. I being what I thought was a smart budgeter had only spend half of my budget for the year thinking I would spend the other half after january so that i could asses what we needed. Now that the budget is frozen i have lost everything that I had left and now am left with no more supplies for the rest of the year. So now lets talk about question 1:
Question 1 on the MA ballot is to get rid of state income tax. I hope that you will all do your own research to find what will happen if this takes place and vote NO on this question. This will be devastating to already hurting school systems. The Schools here in Lee will lose a minimum of $2 million. Check out your own towns lose at www.votenoquestion1.com. You may think this is going to solve problems and give us tax breaks by getting rid of the income tax but taxes are just going to show up else where. State services have to be funded somehow. You may say well NH has no income tax and they seem to be making out fine. Well they also have the 3 highest property tax in the USA. The only states that have no income tax and dont have higher taxes else where are states like wyoming and alaska that have minerals that are taxed for revenue. So its very scary sitting here as an art teacher thinking about the amount of money this school and other schools around the state will loose if this gets passed.
VOTE NO
Question 2- these last 2 questions I wont spend much time on. I feel like they are easy answers although I am sure some will disagree. Question 2 is to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. This is just a terrible idea- As a teacher of high schoolers I feel like this will just be a downward spiral and send the wrong message for the youth of today. Maybe I think that because I am very against the use of it- to some people I am sure its not a big deal. People for it say that this will help first time users from getting criminal records and losing student loans for just one mistake. I have sat here time and time again listening to students who have been caught and most not just once but over and over again and they get off free with no criminal record so the already set rules for offenses are lenient enough. Honestly I feel like its just stupid. Sorry to offend.
Question 3 is to make dog racing in MA illegal. Please vote yes. There are many more gambling vices out there that dont hurt and kill dogs.
that is all. Please if you disagree with anything I have said I would love to hear- I like debating.
i think weed should be legal
420 everyday man, everyday
That stupid income tax idea is the baby of the MA state Libertarian party. They’ve been trying that for a long time. It never passes. They drum up enough dummies who are like, “No taxes. I have no idea about state economics, but I’ll sign that” and then they put in on the ballot and it loses. I think it was on there in that last governor’s race too. Don’t worry about that one.
Unfortunately, this is also not the first time the dog racing question has been on the ballot and it loses too 🙁
Look! Take heart! It could be worse! At least you only have Blue State issues! We just had the state government almost pass a law that would allow students to carry guns on campus and there’s a question on the ballot to change the state constitution to deny rights to same-sex couples, even though gay marriage is already not recognized in Arizona and there are already laws prohibiting it. When we go south of Tucson (where we live now) we have to pass through security checkpoints and state our citizenship like we live in a police state. Our vehicle registration taxes are $300+. I work at one of the top 5 largest universities in the country and we’re running out of paper.
I wish I still lived in a state that cared enough about animals to try to protect them and, even though I totally agree that the marijuana question is really stupid – at least MA is trying to extend peoples’ rights instead of prohibit them.
Can you tell I miss home around election time?
-Eric
Yeah. What he said. 🙂 I was gonna reply but Eric said it a) for me and b) better. I might also add that it’s unfortunate that people think the only thing in education that is important is standardized test scores. We forget that creativity (aka art class) enhances our intelligence and makes us better students, workers, etc. There is more to education than essays and math problems. I am also sickened that the dog racing thing is on the ballot again. Why not slot machines? Finally, did I catch the drift from prior posts that you went veg??
Erin A. (also missing home)
hey thanks for responding!
Yeah if anything all I have heard on radio and tv are things for vote no- There doesnt seem to be a big response for passing it which is good.
The dog racing thing on the other hand. I do see lots of Vote Yes but on the news they keep showing trainers with the dogs wearing fleece jackets showing everyone how well the supposedly treat them. Ugh!! Like the dogs are so happy now that they get to wear this stupid jacket- when 2 seconds after teh camera goes off they are back inside a ridiculously small cage.
I guess it could be worse though you are right. Me and kev got stupid the other day driving home from Lake Placid at a check point like that- we were both like “what the heck is this?” Good thing I just happened to have my passport on me because I usually dont carry it with me in my purse. I cant imagine having to be stoped like that all the time.
How is school going by the way???
Hope you guys are doing good!
whoops i meant to reply that under erics post and then reply to yours also. I’ll just do both under here. I do think its very unfortunate that people forgot the importance of the arts and well the use of creativity really in any subject. I am sick of talking about MCAS and how we can teach to get better scores. Its such a backwards way of teaching kids I feel like. I do agree with the use of them- I do think there needs to be some accountability but is this really the way??
and yes I started being vegetarian in April. I am still struggling with the idea of being vegan- but for dairy I just try to get stuff from local farms that are organic because that I dont really have a problem with that. I would eat meat too if I could afford to buy it from organic farms in the area that I actually knew the farmer and how he raised the animals but its just to expensive for us so for now I just dont eat meat. I am struggling with cooking meat alternatives. Like Tofu- I can never seem to get it right. So if you guys have any recipes or tips I would greatly appreciate them!!
haha I don’t remember getting stupid on the way home from Lake Placid. I do, however, remember being stopped. hahahahah. This made me literally LOL
Also: I was one of those many kids who went off to college having no idea of what they wanted to become. When it finally came time for me to buckle down and pick a career path, I thought back to what I enjoyed most in High school – Art. Now my employment is solely based off art and creativity. If I didn’t have that inspiration in High school, I don’t know where I would be now. Probably doing something I hate. In conclusion, math is lame, art rules… get rid of math! just kidding.. maths aight. (but not as good as art)
ooops i guess i wrote it wrong I will edit what I wrote.
ok i cant edit it- this is what happens when you take to much art in high school instead of english. Maybe all the classes are important- hmmm?
Major tip for tofu: press out as much water as possible. cut it into a few slices and put the slices between clean towels or paper towels and on a plate. then we usually put a heavy pot filled with water on top to really press it down for about 10-20 minutes. or you can just use your hands and press it out. Also, try using extra-firm at first, it’s the most chewy.
A good website to get started: http://www.theppk.com/recipes/
Erin
thanks erin
I know this is a little late, however I feel like i should comment.
I’m from Canada where marijuana is decriminalized, and i don’t see it as a bad thing really. Only small amounts will not give you a criminal record, and the authorizes can and probably will take what you have away from you and if you are suspected of dealing than you will be charged. Also youths found with it may be be required to partake in extra-judicial sanctions, and parents would be notified. What it does essentially is takes away the stigmatization of kids, and as a high school teacher i would expect you to understand what kind of an effect a label can have on a child.
Personally I don’t see anything wrong with a joint for time to time in a responsible environment, and I do have a young brother who does smoke, and what is better then telling a teenager that they can do it. because they are going to do it anyways, is to teach them the effects of it, the consequences, and how to do it responsibly so that they don;t get in trouble. And at the risk of sounding like the typical advocate for marijuana it is actually better for you then ciggerates, there is even evidence that small amounts (like a glass of red wine) can be good for you, decrease the chances of a protein build up in your brain that is known to cause alzheimers.
Also out of personal experience, the relaxation i get from small amounts is enough to keep my eye lids, fingers, elbows and leg from breaking out in eczema which i get from stress, and leads to more stress when i can’t open my eyes because the had swollen shut from the eczema.
I do believe that decriminalization is a good thing, as long as the right to still punish by measures outside of the court is maintained.
“and I do have a young brother who does smoke, and what is better then telling a teenager that they can do it. because they are going to do it anyways, is to teach them the effects of it, the consequences, and how to do it responsibly so that they don;t get in trouble.”
Sorry typo, i ment is that telling a teenager that they can’t do something, will typically drive them to do it anyways.