One woman who came to the door said her husband (who was the listed voter) wasn't home, and when I started talking with her, as her young child ran around, she said she couldn't vote since she was a felon.
So, I asked, and she said she was off parole 5 years ago, and I said I could double-check at the office, but I was pretty sure she could vote now.
"Really?", she was like, and she gave me her cell #.
I checked, and the people at the office said she could vote, and said that if she was "off paper" she was good.
"What's that?", I was like.
"No parole, no probation, nothing," the (white) staffer said. "That's the phrase that people use and they tell us to use it when checking with people."
So, I called the woman back, and she was off paper, so I told her to do the same-day registration with the forms of ID that I had marked on the leaflet that I had left her.
I was sad, though, that she had not been able to vote 4 years ago, because of misinformation.
Then, a few days later, I found out that the Romney camp was spreading misinformation that felons could never vote again, and that made me just sick.
The older I get, I don't get why everyone can't vote. If anyone's vote should get taken away, it's all those fatcats in the banks who crashed the economy and made millions, only people like them never get prosecuted.
Why shouldn't someone with kids like the woman I met have a choice over elected officials who will affect her child's future, even if she's in prison or on probation or on parole or whatever?
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
WI volunteering last weekend (2 of 3): Romney voters.
Last weekend I also met a lot of Romney voters, for some reason:
1) When people move but there's still old voter listings, sometimes you get other people at the door...
I got a lot of 30-something white moms in nice houses who obviously had kids, and as soon as I identified myself as a volunteer for the county Democratic Party, they'd be like, "Sorry, I'm voting the other way!", and politely go to close the door and end the conversation. I always wanted to ask why.
2) One (lower class) (white) woman who was apparently in subsidized housing answered the door, said she didn't vote in a "you can't tell me what to do" kind of way, and so I asked her why. She said voting didn't affect her.
"If Romney gets in office, your taxes will go up a lot, because he'll raise them in order to give the mega-rich fat cats a break."
"I don't know about that," she was like. "He also wants to take away Social Security and Medicare, so you won't have anything when you're older." "Well, I'm going to be working when I'm old anyways, so what's different," she was like.
"Your kids' classroom size will increase," I said, because I noticed a couple small kids running around.
"That doesn't affect me, they're not in school yet," she was like. I then checked if she was the woman on the sheet marked as a voter, and it turned out to be a family member of hers who lived next door, so I cut my losses and went to go talk to her, and she was pro-Obama.
My one friend from home who's a social worker said that most of her clients were like that woman, where it's always not them and they don't care about anything unless it directly affects them at that second.
3) One older (white) woman in a sweatshirt and glasses and open, wild eyes who seemed a bit developmentally disabled said she was voting Romney, but she said it in a really disjointed way, where I wasn't sure what she said at 1st...
She then said she didn't trust Obama, and he was going to take away Social Security.
"Are you sure about that?", I was like. "There's a lot of misinformation out there, and Romney is really proposing to do that, though he doesn't say that too much."
At that, she took pause, and then was like, "But I don't trust Obama," and said something about Christian radio.
Really, shame on Romney and shame on Christian radio for spreading so much misinformation and taking advantage of disabled people, and deceiving them into voting against their stated interests.
1) When people move but there's still old voter listings, sometimes you get other people at the door...
I got a lot of 30-something white moms in nice houses who obviously had kids, and as soon as I identified myself as a volunteer for the county Democratic Party, they'd be like, "Sorry, I'm voting the other way!", and politely go to close the door and end the conversation. I always wanted to ask why.
2) One (lower class) (white) woman who was apparently in subsidized housing answered the door, said she didn't vote in a "you can't tell me what to do" kind of way, and so I asked her why. She said voting didn't affect her.
"If Romney gets in office, your taxes will go up a lot, because he'll raise them in order to give the mega-rich fat cats a break."
"I don't know about that," she was like. "He also wants to take away Social Security and Medicare, so you won't have anything when you're older." "Well, I'm going to be working when I'm old anyways, so what's different," she was like.
"Your kids' classroom size will increase," I said, because I noticed a couple small kids running around.
"That doesn't affect me, they're not in school yet," she was like. I then checked if she was the woman on the sheet marked as a voter, and it turned out to be a family member of hers who lived next door, so I cut my losses and went to go talk to her, and she was pro-Obama.
My one friend from home who's a social worker said that most of her clients were like that woman, where it's always not them and they don't care about anything unless it directly affects them at that second.
3) One older (white) woman in a sweatshirt and glasses and open, wild eyes who seemed a bit developmentally disabled said she was voting Romney, but she said it in a really disjointed way, where I wasn't sure what she said at 1st...
She then said she didn't trust Obama, and he was going to take away Social Security.
"Are you sure about that?", I was like. "There's a lot of misinformation out there, and Romney is really proposing to do that, though he doesn't say that too much."
At that, she took pause, and then was like, "But I don't trust Obama," and said something about Christian radio.
Really, shame on Romney and shame on Christian radio for spreading so much misinformation and taking advantage of disabled people, and deceiving them into voting against their stated interests.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
WI volunteering last weekend (1 of 3): Convinced undecideds?.
Last weekend in Wisconsin I may have convinced 2 undecided voters... I meet them a lot, but I never get strong reactions where I think I've actually changed someone's mind:
1) One house was on a corner, and the way it was set up with a door on the corner and the side and these high, long, and thin windows that you couldn't see in, you could tell it was a converted bar.
I knocked on the door, and a smoking (white) woman in her mid-40s asked me in to talk after she said she didn't know which way she was voting quite yet, and there was an old (white) woman at the kitchen table drinking coffee and smoking and another (white) woman in her mid-40s smoking and drinking coffee.
The room was very smoky, and the woman who answered the door said that she's union and would be a Democrat all the way, except abortion really makes her pause.
"Well, abortion's a very difficult issue," I said, "And I'm uncomfortable with it myself, in some ways," and then I continued on to say that people who were pro-life could reasonably vote either Democrat or Republican, because while Republicans would ban it, studies show Democratic policies reduce it.
"Forget that," the other woman said, leaping into the conversation. "It's not about the baby, it's about controlling your body. And the Republicans don't do anything about it, they just want the votes to do other stuff. Don't you get that?"
Then, she turned to me, "I keep telling her that!"
"If that study is what you say it is," the woman was like, ignoring the other woman for a second, "I'll definitely vote Democratic."
Then, she gave me her email, and I told her I'd email her from my personal account, and when I got back to the office I found the study that provision of contraception through the Affordable Care Act will lower abortion rates massively.
2) One apartment was in back and the guy had a Spanish name, and when I went around back, there was this plump hispanic guy in a purple polo shirt talking with his landlord about the installation of a satellite dish.
I identified myself, and he was like, "One minute!", and his landlord said he supported Ron Paul, and they finished the conversation and the landlord left and I began to talk to the guy about Obama.
The hispanic guy said he would support Obama, but he didn't know much and wasn't too motivated to vote.
So, I began fishing around with issues, and I gave my testimony about Obama saving GM.
He was cold.
So, I said that a lot of hispanic friends, one Mexican-American and one whose parents were refugees from El Salvador, were very happy how Obama fights for the Dream Act, and has stopped deportation of youths who have finished high school and have no criminal records.
"And he doesn't stoke hate against hispanics, because that's just not right and just not his style," I was like. "But I don't know if you have friends or family that this affects..."
The guy then identified himself as Spanish, and said he really didn't, though he had seemed to perk up against when I talked about the anti-hispanic stuff being wrong.
Then, he invited me upstairs because he was getting cold standing outside, he was in sandals and everything and it was pretty chilly with the wind.
I went upstairs, and he was like, "My boyfriend's been harrassing me to vote, he totally supports Obama."
At that point, I told him that Tammy Baldwin who was running for Senate was an out lesbian.
"Really?", he was like.
"Yes," I was like, "She doesn't talk about it too much since she talks about the economy since that's what most people are worried about right now, but she doesn't hide it, either."
"That is awesome," he was like, "Lesbians know how to get things done! And they're tough, too."
I then filled him in on her bio, and he was totally stoked to vote, and I left early voter info for him and told him to get it to his boyfriend too, which he agreed to do.
1) One house was on a corner, and the way it was set up with a door on the corner and the side and these high, long, and thin windows that you couldn't see in, you could tell it was a converted bar.
I knocked on the door, and a smoking (white) woman in her mid-40s asked me in to talk after she said she didn't know which way she was voting quite yet, and there was an old (white) woman at the kitchen table drinking coffee and smoking and another (white) woman in her mid-40s smoking and drinking coffee.
The room was very smoky, and the woman who answered the door said that she's union and would be a Democrat all the way, except abortion really makes her pause.
"Well, abortion's a very difficult issue," I said, "And I'm uncomfortable with it myself, in some ways," and then I continued on to say that people who were pro-life could reasonably vote either Democrat or Republican, because while Republicans would ban it, studies show Democratic policies reduce it.
"Forget that," the other woman said, leaping into the conversation. "It's not about the baby, it's about controlling your body. And the Republicans don't do anything about it, they just want the votes to do other stuff. Don't you get that?"
Then, she turned to me, "I keep telling her that!"
"If that study is what you say it is," the woman was like, ignoring the other woman for a second, "I'll definitely vote Democratic."
Then, she gave me her email, and I told her I'd email her from my personal account, and when I got back to the office I found the study that provision of contraception through the Affordable Care Act will lower abortion rates massively.
2) One apartment was in back and the guy had a Spanish name, and when I went around back, there was this plump hispanic guy in a purple polo shirt talking with his landlord about the installation of a satellite dish.
I identified myself, and he was like, "One minute!", and his landlord said he supported Ron Paul, and they finished the conversation and the landlord left and I began to talk to the guy about Obama.
The hispanic guy said he would support Obama, but he didn't know much and wasn't too motivated to vote.
So, I began fishing around with issues, and I gave my testimony about Obama saving GM.
He was cold.
So, I said that a lot of hispanic friends, one Mexican-American and one whose parents were refugees from El Salvador, were very happy how Obama fights for the Dream Act, and has stopped deportation of youths who have finished high school and have no criminal records.
"And he doesn't stoke hate against hispanics, because that's just not right and just not his style," I was like. "But I don't know if you have friends or family that this affects..."
The guy then identified himself as Spanish, and said he really didn't, though he had seemed to perk up against when I talked about the anti-hispanic stuff being wrong.
Then, he invited me upstairs because he was getting cold standing outside, he was in sandals and everything and it was pretty chilly with the wind.
I went upstairs, and he was like, "My boyfriend's been harrassing me to vote, he totally supports Obama."
At that point, I told him that Tammy Baldwin who was running for Senate was an out lesbian.
"Really?", he was like.
"Yes," I was like, "She doesn't talk about it too much since she talks about the economy since that's what most people are worried about right now, but she doesn't hide it, either."
"That is awesome," he was like, "Lesbians know how to get things done! And they're tough, too."
I then filled him in on her bio, and he was totally stoked to vote, and I left early voter info for him and told him to get it to his boyfriend too, which he agreed to do.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Latin: What a great student.
With my one Latin student who's a faculty assistant at school, we recently started translating the prologue to Ovid's "Art of Love", and at our 1st session on the text translated the 1st 4 lines:
Siquis in hoc artem populo non novit amandi,
Hoc legat et lecto carmine doctus amet.
Arte citae veloque rates remoque moventur,
Arte leves currus: arte regendus amor.
Hoc legat et lecto carmine doctus amet.
Arte citae veloque rates remoque moventur,
Arte leves currus: arte regendus amor.
IF there be anyone among you who is ignorant of the art of loving,
let him read this poem and, having read it and acquired the knowledge
it contains, let him address himself to Love.
By art the swift ships are propelled with sail and oar; there is art in driving the fleet chariots, and Love should by art be guided.
By art the swift ships are propelled with sail and oar; there is art in driving the fleet chariots, and Love should by art be guided.
After we translated (the translation above is someone else's, not ours), I wrote the next day to him:
Something to think about and we can discuss next week:
The gerundive can bear a range of meanings, ranging from an idea of external necessity (a "must") to a strong recommendation (a "should").
Latin does not force you to choose between those meanings, but translation into English does.
A question: if you had to choose an English translation for "arte regendus amor", would you choose "must", "should", or something else entirely, and why?
Keep up the good work and see you next week,
The gerundive can bear a range of meanings, ranging from an idea of external necessity (a "must") to a strong recommendation (a "should").
Latin does not force you to choose between those meanings, but translation into English does.
A question: if you had to choose an English translation for "arte regendus amor", would you choose "must", "should", or something else entirely, and why?
Keep up the good work and see you next week,
[my name]
He wrote back later that day:
| |||
Ah, very interesting. I’ll look into this and be ready to discuss next week.
I think actually the phrase should be preferably translated "By art love must be guided", but I'm not 100% sure, and in any case it's an interesting subject to talk about.
What a great student!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
MDNA sadness.
So for Madonna's MDNA tour, everyone who got a ticket got a free iTunes or CD version of her MDNA CD.
But I only recently realized that the CD they sent everyone must have been the edited version, which leaves entirely off the track "Gang Bang", which would have appeared as the #2 song (the rest all get bumped up one slot then).
I'm kind of ticked. That sequence in the tour was my favorite, and the song was good too, and I'd love to have it. I wonder if I can write anywhere to see if I can get the unedited CD. I don't think that was an option when I had to specify online whether I wanted the album on iTunes or on CD, after I bought my ticket.
But I only recently realized that the CD they sent everyone must have been the edited version, which leaves entirely off the track "Gang Bang", which would have appeared as the #2 song (the rest all get bumped up one slot then).
I'm kind of ticked. That sequence in the tour was my favorite, and the song was good too, and I'd love to have it. I wonder if I can write anywhere to see if I can get the unedited CD. I don't think that was an option when I had to specify online whether I wanted the album on iTunes or on CD, after I bought my ticket.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Seeing Don Hertzfeldt.
A while ago I had a chance to see Don Hertzfeldt live after a screening of his films.
I had seen some of his animation here and there for a while, and since it was so viciously funny and very mature, I had assumed he was in his late 60s and had experienced a ton of life.
Instead, he was around my age.
Interestingly, he keeps a log of his dreams and things that happen to him in everyday life, and many are directly given to characters in his films.
His new film "It's Such a Beautiful Day" was amazing - it picks up the story of a character he developed in 2 previous films, and to see them all one after another was amazing.
I think his film is showing again at the art film house downtown next month, I might go see it again. Since I saw it, I've flashed back to it several times, especially the last minutes of the last film, it was so amazing, just like I've often thought back to parts of Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In", which was perhaps the best film that I saw this past year.
I had seen some of his animation here and there for a while, and since it was so viciously funny and very mature, I had assumed he was in his late 60s and had experienced a ton of life.
Instead, he was around my age.
Interestingly, he keeps a log of his dreams and things that happen to him in everyday life, and many are directly given to characters in his films.
His new film "It's Such a Beautiful Day" was amazing - it picks up the story of a character he developed in 2 previous films, and to see them all one after another was amazing.
I think his film is showing again at the art film house downtown next month, I might go see it again. Since I saw it, I've flashed back to it several times, especially the last minutes of the last film, it was so amazing, just like I've often thought back to parts of Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In", which was perhaps the best film that I saw this past year.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Fun Latin news.
My one Latin student who's a faculty assistant at school is totally on board to read "Gaudet Mater Ecclesia" (John XXIII's speech to open the 2nd Vatican Council) as one of our texts, after we finish the saint's life we're on!
We are also going to add in a short poem by Catullus each section, as we continue to read Ovid's "Art of Love".
We are also going to add in a short poem by Catullus each section, as we continue to read Ovid's "Art of Love".
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