Ponderings

The brain kids at MIT are launching their new “$100 laptops” for children in some of the worlds poorest regions. These brilliant little gizmo’s run on (free) Linux systems and are powered by hand or foot pumps. (Anybody remember the treadle sewing machines?) The education puba in Thailand announced that these gizmo’s will be given to each child in lieu of books because books will be available through the computers (and the magical world of the internet). Although not reaching the poorest of the poor (think Sudan), nor those regions of the world ravaged by untreated treatable illnesses (think the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), these little gizmo’s have the potential for revolutionizing education for the moderately poor of the world.

And I wonder what that means?

As our world becomes smaller and our secrets more transparent, our assumptions will also be visible.

And I wonder what that means?

Connected now not by wires or by … just how exactly does the internet work?

And I wonder what that means?

The news of the day: “Lebanese troops deploy as part of the cease-fire” and “Suspect confesses to Jon Benet Ramsey’s killing”. World peace must be just around the corner. But I must confess that troop deployment as a signal for the end of armed aggression rings hollow for me. And the capture of Jon Benet’s killer is certainly welcome news for her family too long shrouded by media speculation and public suspicion, I’m not sure the news affects my sense of personal safety in the least.

I find myself wondering about the sheer number of law enforcement hours invested is finding Jon Benet’s killer. The local Boulder effort became a national search and then international, finally culminating in collaboration with official in Thailand and now an extradition hearing. The investigation involved an unbelievable number of false leads and dogged determination by a fine team of investigators over a ten year period. Following the extradition (international flights for prisoner and guards) there will be months of trial and years of prison (presumably maximum security).

How much have we, will we, spend to find Jon Benet’s killer? And how much will we then spend on the trial and incarceration? The figure must certainly stretch into the seventh digit.

Although Jon Benet’s death was a incomprehensible tragedy, so too the death of Ryon Smith. [Ryon Smith’s lifeless beaten body was found in his squalid home in Cahokia IL on Christmas Day, 2006.] But while we have and will spend millions solving and avenging the murder of Jon Benet’s killer, we are oblivious to Ryon’s. And I wonder why?

Is it that Jon Benet’s beauty pageant face is just too cute? Is it the salacious mystery of practically-perfect-parents being suspects in the crime? Does the wealth of the Ramsey family drive the investigative diligence?

Perhaps it is all of the above and maybe more. But my faith tells me that God weeps just as deeply over the death of Ryon Smith. My faith also wonders if God notices how much of our communal wealth we spend on Jon Benet’s death and how little we spent on Ryon Smith’s life. What if our communal priorties shifted and we invest more with the most vulnerable of our society?

Perhaps it’s easier to place our trust in the Lebanese troops marching south and John Mark Karr in custody. But still I wonder…

The days are getting shorter and there is the briefest hint of a chill in the night air. The back to school sales are winding down and the tension in my house is on the rise. In just two short weeks we are back to school.

Technically it’s my kids that go back to school. I’m not an official student on any campus. But in our family reality, school is a family affair. One of my responsibilities is to make sure the kids have clothes and supplies. Although generally speaking I am an avid shopper, the endless black hole of back to school shopping is daunting. Then my partner and I carefully working out schedules to make sure we get each kid where they need to be. Together we shuttle the kids to the practices that have already begun, write the checks to coaches and tutors, and sort through the endless requests for volunteer time and money that are now arriving.

Studies show that parental involvement is crucial to kids’ success in school. My children often hold that card over my head. And though there are delightful exceptions to every rule, I’ve yet to find a study that affirms the slacker parent. I assure you that I am still searching. With two children in two schools with two very different sets of academic, emotional and social needs, I find it absolutely impossible to be the June Cleaver of parental involvement. Sometimes my introverted self just wants to hide, other times the proud mom rises to the fore.

Full face to the parental demands of school age children, I find myself facing a cruel irony. The national educational reform legislation, Leave No Child Behind, is now moving into a new phase of implementation. Students in schools that have failed to perform will now be given a choice to attend other schools. These students range in age from 5 to 18 (give or take). A huge number of these students don’t even yet read and certainly don’t know about this law. Even if they did, students themselves are minors. It is the parents, not the students, who will be given choice. But what of the child who’s parent is not able or willing to advocate for them? What happens to the success of a child who’s parent can’t or won’t be involved? How are we to Leave No Child Behind if the legislative muscle rests in parental control? The cruel irony is that the child most vulnerable is left behind. Again.

Them that’s got shall get
Them that’s not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own
- Billie Holiday

The news is bleak again this morning. A typhoon is reeling toward China reminding us of the increasingly disasterous effects of global warming. The UK uncovered a plot to blow up transatlantic passenger planes reminding us that in war there are no ‘safe zones’. The biblical story of horror for the week (Absalom, Tamar, and Amnon) finds ready parallels in the news of “honour killings” in our day. Bleak.

But the real trauma of the week has not been biblical or global, its very local. Ants. Lots of them. Millions and more. Tiny little ants that are crawling into my house faster than I can shoo them back out. The excessive heat and dryness has taken its toll on their natural habitat and they are seeking greener pastures indoors. Given that our house in 100+ years old, there is no fool proof way to keep them out. Even my trusty bottle of Terro has failed me. My exterminator buddies are coming this afternoon with their high powered weaponry, but I don’t think they have much more of a chance than Rumsfeld (though they are equally confident!). At best we can keep our defense meeting their offense as we pray for cooler wetter weather. Bleak.

And yet. And yet I woke up this morning to the sounds of my daughter chatting happily at her father (no small miracle in the world of teenagerdom). My almost teenage son started his morning by crawling into my bed for a hug. (“One arm only, mom.”) The sun is shining brightly (burning off some of the humidity I pray!), the dog is contented with her family. And my husband asked me out for a “date”. I don’t see world peace in the offing nor even a kitchen free of ants, but I do see grace. And perhaps that is enough for today.

The Guardian Unlimited reports a flood of new asylum seekers from war torn Iraq. Gay men.

Turns out that homosexuality is an affront to Islam and Section 111 of the penal code protects those who defend Islam against such assault. Turns out that it is now perfectly legal, and culturally acceptable, to murder homosexuals.

Not only homosexuals, but also young boys who have been forced into same-sex prostitution. They’re victimization is somehow erased in light of the heinous affront to Islam as adult men abuse the children. The children themselves are considered defiled and worthy of only death.

Would that our nation were on the side of liberating Iraq from such horror, but it turns out that our nation state is the one upholding the penal code.

I can only wonder what Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin, our beloved “founding fathers”, might make of our initiating a war halfway around the world in order to institute religious zealotry.

No amount of rewriting history can twist support for this current debacle from Ben or Thomas. And only a revisionist history will allow our children to respect their elders support for this new chapter in the war of shame.