things that make me crabby

1. The Republican National Convention's behavior lately. Basic breakdown: a supposedly peaceful war protest + the party's big convention in Minnesota this week + Left-leaning journalists reporting on the protest = accredited journalists getting thrown in jail with no charges filed and protesters reportedly being tortured.

Yeah, I'm not exaggerating:

Salazar shot footage of her own arrest, where she can be heard shouting "press! press!" as she is shoved to the ground by baton-wielding police who ran directly at her and told her to "get the hell out of here!" Once on the ground, the police repeatedly yell at Salazar to "get down on your face." The camera flips over, recording three screams -- apparently from Salazar -- and then cuts off.

Here's an interview with one of the kids protesting who was just released from jail:

My name is Elliot Hughes. E-L-L-I-O-T, H-U-G-H-E-S. Me and some friends were chanting for—so that we could receive food in Ramsey County Jail, because we hadn’t been provided food. And six or seven officers came into my cell, and they took—one officer punched me in the face, right here where you see this bruise. And then they slammed—and I fell to the ground, unconscious. And the officer grabbed me by the head, slammed my head on the ground and re-awoke me out of—to consciousness. And I was bleeding everywhere. They dragged me to another detaining cell. They put a bag over my head that had a gag on it. And they used pain compliance tactics on me for about an hour and a half. They pressed—they separated my jaw as hard as they could with their fingers. And they bent my ankles back. They basically bent my foot backwards. I was screaming for God and like screaming for mercy, crying, asking them why they were doing this. And I’ve never been so violated in my life.

Even if both accounts are blatantly exaggerated--which I don't doubt they may be--they're still scary to think about. It's not ok to arrest reporters, even with the excuse that police "thought they were with the protesters." Nope, not gonna cut it. And it's not ok to beat someone up in prison because you don't like their political views. There are always protesters at the conventions (DNC and RNC alike), and always hundreds arrested. But things got out of control in St. Paul.

2. The fact that my sister-in-law's company isn't letting its employers evacuate for the hurricane "until the last minute." I guess they've got a really important, time-sensitive contract on their hands, so they're not letting people out of Houston until Ike almost makes landfall. We're all kind of crossing our fingers that the city is empty by then so she can get out fast, without traffic entanglements.

3. Class sizes in Utah schools. I don't care if it's an honors class. Study after study after study shows that with student numbers like 41, 40, 38 (my first 3 periods on B days), students don't get the instructional and psychological scaffolding they need and teacher burnout rates skyrocket. It is next to impossible to keep 41 individual teenagers engaged, on task, and monitored for academic achievement at the same time. It's like trying to juggle with 41 bowling pins in the air at once--I'm sure someone can do it, but that someone isn't me. And I'm not even getting paid.



Sorry. End rant.