Tag Archives: Voter’s Voice

Meanwhile, back at the Caucuses

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It was Monday night. Not dark and stormy, although there was a snowstorm waiting in the wings. Here in Wisconsin, we watched one school district after another declare their schools closed in advance.

Meanwhile, in our neighboring state of Iowa, the presidential primary season has officially begun. It’s the night of the famed Iowa Caucuses. There, in the heart of the Midwest, real results – not estimates or polls! – will emerge.

So while I’m relaxing in front of a series of Tiny House Nation episodes, I’m also prepping for the incoming storm. My laptop is plugged in and charging. My fitbit (with its vibrating alarm) is plugged into the laptop and charging. My phone will go on its turbo charger later. The storm promises to move in midday tomorrow, so I’m not too worried about overnight power outages.

Meanwhile, back in Iowa, a correspondent for The Broad Side has been posting updates and pictures. I watch the numbers change in her posts. Hillary – 54; Bernie – 29; O’Malley – 3; Undecided – 5. They caucus some more. Hillary – 57; Bernie – 34. Based on those numbers, the location I’m following assigns Hillary 8 delegates for the Democratic Convention and Bernie 5 delegates. 

A friend posts on Facebook “Schools are closed tomorrow!” We know it’s official when we see it on at least three news channel crawls and on the district’s official web site. Conversations on social media range from “6 inches? We’re shutting down for 6 inches?” to “Thank goodness, the administration is erring on the side of safety and caution.”

Meanwhile, back in Iowa, someone posts a picture of this.

This would go well with my Obama mug, wouldn't it?

This would go well with my Obama mug, wouldn’t it?

As for schools closing, the major factor isn’t always how much snow falls. It’s more about when the snow falls and whether the plows can clear the parking lots, sidewalks, and nearby streets. An overnight snow can mean a two hour delay while the maintenance crews plow and shovel and blow snow. If a storm drops 5-6 inches starting at 3 AM, it’s not so easy. Tuesday’s storm may drop 6-12 inches, all starting around noon. Folks, in reality, starting a normal school day and then having to send kids home early is a nightmare. Chaos. Confusion. 6 inches in itself may not seem like a catastrophic snowfall, but the timing is everything.

Meanwhile, back at the caucuses – no clear results yet. Since I don’t have school tomorrow, maybe I’ll stay up late and watch the news shows. Or maybe, since I don’t have school tomorrow, I’ll spend my day watching the pundits announce and interpret the results.

And meanwhile, I’ll watch the snow fall from the safety of my home.

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Using the Celebrity Spokesperson

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Hey, Peyton. Yes, you. Mr. Manning. Archie’s son, Eli’s brother. Mr. Good-guy boy-next-door. They’re using you. You recognized that, didn’t you? Or didn’t you?

Take “Papa” John Schnatter. He got himself in hot water by badmouthing the Affordable Care Act in such a way that he ended up looking petty. He said that in order to pay for heath coverage for his employees, he’d have to raise the price of each pizza by a quarter. Twenty-five cents. $.25. Oh, pity party. He feared it would cut down his sales.

Instead, people heard about his reluctance to allow health care for his employees and – get this – customers stopped buying Papa John’s pizza! He was watching his profits go downhill, and “Papa” had to do something.

That’s when he called you, Peyton. He needed a sportsperson who had that innocent, never-do-wrong look about him. I’m sure he pays you a lot more than the projected cost of health insurance for his employees. But what the heck? He needed to upgrade his image, and fast. Peyton, he’s using you. He wants your image to rub off on him.

And that Cable vs. Direct TV commercial. How could you think it was humorous to put down the barbershop singers? Talented, cooperative, fun people like barbershop singers are awesome. Frankly, your boy-next-door image could benefit from singing barbershop. Maybe the media would forget about the steroids shipped to your wife if you let the barbershop quartet image rub off on you. Reading the Direct TV script didn’t help their marketing plan, and the negative attitude may have cost your Q score (likability measurement) instead.

Peyton, call your agent. Let him or her know that while the money might be good, you care about your image. You’re  too close to retirement to mess with your image. Someday, you won’t throw passes, and the commercial income based on your reputation may be all you have.

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Captions please, Candidates.

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The airwaves are full of debates and speaking events and predictions and (dare we say it) television commercials in the markets headed for primary caucuses and elections. There is one thing wrong with many of those TV ads. No, it’s not that they exist or that they’re misleading (although that can be true). I’m not even referring to the shady third party issue ads that crowd the screen all too often.

I’m talking about closed captioning.

The FCC has rules and guidelines for captioning of television shows, whether recorded ahead of time or aired live. Commercials, however, are still inconsistent. Some have captioning, some don’t. And many, all too many candidates bypass the time and the cost of captioning their commercials.

Think of those with hearing losses. Baby boomers raised on loud music, senior citizens with age-related hearing loss, millennials brought up on ear buds – all of these people are likely to miss the details in a well-made commercial. Then bring in those hearing problems not listed above — people with hearing aids or cochlear implants for whatever reason, from illness or hereditary conditions, from environmental problems like combat noise, among others. The size of the group grows.

Think about it. If you’re a candidate or working for a candidate, do you want to leave all of those voters out of your audience? That’s what happens if the ads aren’t captioned.

Closed captioning isn’t free. It costs money, and it costs time. However, paying the captioner and taking the time to load captions into an ad are investments. If those captions help a candidate to connect with voters, this additional cost of doing business can reach voters who may not have heard the candidate’s message – literally.

Readers, do you watch television with captioning on? Do you notice when a show or an ad has captioning – or doesn’t? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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Simple Truths in the Online World

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On rambling through too many emails:

Unsubscribing to an email list doesn’t mean I no longer support the cause. I can support, even donate, to a cause without needing to read daily requests for more money.

Online petitions have become so easy to sign that they are often meaningless. See above: begging me to sign petitions get deleted immediately. See this post for one that put me over the edge.

Subscribing to my favorite blogs saves me time. I don’t waste time clicking only to find that my blogger friends have been too busy to post.

Since I teach online, I’m glued to a computer screen much of the day at work. I love my work, but it means I spend less time online at home. My eyes and my mind need to rest.

I found out through Facebook that a recently retired teacher is running for office – a seat on the county board. He will do a great job on the board; now I need to decide how deep my role will be in helping him get elected. No emails, please; let me think this out on my own.

Ah, the online world. Take it or leave it, love it or hate it, it’s changing the world around us.

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Online Petitions and Me

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I don’t sign online petitions anymore. I didn’t sign very often in the first place, but it just seemed… too easy. Too easy to do, too easy to share, too easy to forward. Frankly, most online petitions are simply too easy to make a real impact on any issue of real importance.

And now, with people worldwide misled by Netflix signing in droves to request a pardon for a murderer.

I’ll keep this short, folks. Steven Avery murdered a young woman named Teresa Halbach. He lured her to his home, raped her, killed her, and even invited his nephew to watch and join in.

The evidence was clear. Making a Murderer disregarded a great number of facts  The producers of the one-sided series created their own reality, one that did not coincide with the reality of the investigation and trial. All appeals for both the killer and his nephew have been exhausted. The courts have reviewed the records in detail and stated that the jury was right; the man was guilty as charged.

Here’s what hurts. The murder took place not far from our city. We watched this unfold as it happened. We saw the missing person reports. Chuck was part of the media team that covered the trial. I had nightmares then and they’re starting again because La Petite is, like Halbach was, a professional photographer.

Those who sign petitions and comment online without the facts are making a major mistake. This murderer doesn’t need a pardon. He doesn’t need a new trial. He needs to serve his time – and even that can never atone for what he did.

 

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As Seen On TV

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I had to read this three times before I really believed it was on the air, in the crawl at the base of the screen on a local shall-remain-nameless evening news show.

The Wisconsin state assembly passed a bill doubling the limit on campaign contributions and allowing candidates to coordinate with shadowy special interest groups without debate.

I’m not sure which is worse: the obvious bias or the split-all-to-heck descriptor. No, I take that back. The worst part of this sentence is that it’s true. The state assembly passed, without debate, a bill raising the ceiling on campaign contributions, among other changes. Meanwhile, voters are still waiting for a response to Russ Feingold’s proposal, The Badger Pledge.

I guess I’ll just keep going to work, grading essays, teaching students how to coin a phrase better than our local news folk.

Grammar Police

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Refugees are welcome here, Governor and the rest.

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Dear Governor Walker;

I am concerned and rather embarrassed that the governor of my fair state has followed the Republican pack and denounced refugees that might seek a home in our state. Demonizing displaced Syrians is no way to lead.

Sincerely welcoming Syrians, Daisy

Dear Speaker Ryan;

Using your newly acquired soapbox to encourage prejudice and bigotry does not make you look strong; it makes you look uninformed and weak.

Seriously doubting the Speaker, Daisy

Dear #12 (Aaron Rodgers, if anyone needs a reminder);

In your position as award-winning NFL quarterback, you often have opportunities to speak to many. In denouncing the rude person who shouted anti-Muslim sentiments during the moment of silence, you used that opportunity to make a strong statement. The teacher in me loves that you used the phrase “prejudicial ideology” – the human in me loves that you took a stand.

Packer stockholder and lifelong fan, Daisy

Dear Senator (not for long if I can help it) Johnson;

I’m really getting tired of the misleading third-party commercials. If you can’t control them, you could at least show your disapproval by signing and honoring the Badger Pledge. Unless, of course, you approve of those negative ads – or enjoy their twisted support.

Decidedly Democrat, Daisy

Dear Russ (Feingold, that is);

I respect and appreciate your grass roots strategies. You are reaching out to everyday, ordinary people, and that’s where you’ll learn what Wisconsin citizens really need. That’s also how Wisconsin citizens will get to know you again and vote you back into the Senate where you belong.

Progressively Yours, Daisy

 

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Does wifi matter?

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One of the biggest trending topics from the recent debates was this: the wifi passwords at each venue.

Username: RNCDebate

Password: stophillary

They thought they were clever – forcing every member of the media or other attendee who wanted wifi to type “stophillary” into their devices.

Ha-ha. The decision makers forgot a key detail: Democrats had a debate coming up very soon. Predictions, anyone? Results:

Network name: 13MillionNewJobs

No Password. The Democratic Party is the party of inclusion and we believe in expanding access and economic opportunity for all.

There you have it, readers. The Democrats stayed classy. They resisted the opportunity to attack any individual, and instead restated their own agenda.

Taking the low road with tacky humor points: Republicans.

On the high road with positive attitude and strategy points: Democrats.

I know which organization I’d rather support. Now, please, can we move on to serious issues? You’re welcome.

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There is hope in our younger generation.

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An encore only because I’m no longer teaching fifth grade history. If I were, I’d have a whole new collection of student answers, and a whole new feeling of hope for the future.

My students were learning about the Articles of Confederation and the events and debates and compromises leading up to the writing and ratification of the United States Constitution. As I corrected their tests, a trend emerged in the essay questions – a rather thoughtful, insightful trend..

I can’t post the specific question, but I’ll just tell you that they were discussing the creation of the Constitution and interpreting George Washington’s warning against the destructive nature of political parties.

Actual student answers:
-“I think Washington wanted people to be happy and to work as a team.”
Can this student run for office some day? Please?
 
-“They would disagree on things because they would have different opinions and they would argue a lot.”
Run-on sentence aside, she was predicting the future with amazing accuracy.
 
-“It creates tensions and the good that could be done is lost in the arguments of each party’s plans.”
Another candidate for office someday – governor, perhaps.
“Washington knew that if the country split into political parties, then the country would be more split up and there would be too many disagreements.”
Politicians, stand warned. This student and others like him will be voting before you know it.
 
It’s time, it’s well past time, to start cooperating. Bipartisan collaboration would be a good start, but in all honesty, nonpartisan cooperation would be even better.
I’m sure George would agree.
Now back to the grade book to grade the maps of Ancient Egypt. My students know the real history of the pyramids. Maybe a certain candidate at tonight’s debate needs a little Common Core in his life.
But anyway, readers, feel free to step in. Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. How do you feel about that?

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