Suspended Teacher Speaks at Public Hearing on her Students Get-well Letters to Convicted Cop Killer

Marilyn Zuniga, a third-grade teacher, has been suspended with pay for sending Mumia Abul-Jamal get well letters written by her students.  The board is deciding on what, if any, further action will be taken.  

During the meeting that was being held, Ms. Zuniga made a public statement.  In this statement she said:

"Growing up in a predominantly white suburb, attending a majority white school district, my teachers and peers marginalized me as a first generation immigrant, Peruvian-American. The cultural gap between my educators and me caused me to feel disconnected from my school work and learning altogether. It wasn't until my experience in the classroom my senior year of high school that I realized I could be the teacher I never had."

 Ok, fair enough.  I hope that every teacher in the country has a passion to help all students learn and to think for themselves.  That is what a teacher should be doing.  The problem is that she is going beyond that mission.  She is putting her viewpoints into the classroom and to the heads of very innocent 8-year-olds.  

Now the problem with the supporters of Mumia is that they never answer the question about why he has never told who the murderer of Officer Faulkner is.  There is no dispute that he was there and witnesses it.  There is no dispute that he had a gun.  There is no dispute that his brother assaulted Officer Faulkner.  There is no dispute that the police arrived on the scene within minutes of the shooting.  There is no dispute that Mumia was shot by the police officer.  He was a very short distance away with a gun shot wound and a weapon when the police arrived.  

Most people want to say he was arrested due to his political beliefs.  The problem is that he was arrested within minutes of the police arriving on the scene.  They didn't have time to find out about his political beliefs and writings.  Writing that includes talk about "killing pigs".  For those that may be unclear what that means, it is police officers.  

Anyone that has read my writing over the years knows that I am against the death penalty.  I have no problem with him be taken off death row.  But I certainly don't think he is some innocent lamb that is being led to slaughter.  

She is entitled to her beliefs, but she isn't entitled to bring those beliefs into the classroom.  No teacher is.  What really kills me is the people who were at this meeting supporting her.  

"It is teaching children at a tender age one of the most valuable lessons that they need to absorb in order to mature into adults who sympathize with the plight of their fellow human beings,"

It goes on:

"The lesson that was taught through this project is that in order for society to be peaceful and just, we must care about or reach out to those members of society who are most vulnerable, including children, the frail, elderly, the sick and disabled, the poor and, yes, even prisoners."

What about the family of the dead officer?  Don't they deserve someone to reach out to them as well?  What about the compassion for the young woman who had to go the hospital in very early hours of the morning to see her husband with a gunshot wound to his face?  A wound that was done at very close range and literally blew most of his head off.  Where is the compassion for a woman who didn't have her happily ever after simply because her husband was doing his job?  A car was driving down the wrong way on a one-way street so he pulled it over.  He didn't pull that car over because the driver was black.  He pulled it over because is was posing a safety hazard and violated the law.  She has lived her life without the man she loved enough to marry and pledge the rest of her life to.  

"We are here tonight because Marylin Zuniga is our hero," Larry Hamm, chairman of the People's Organization for Progress, said to the board members. "We ask that you restore her to her job and let her continue to teach the compassion that our children need to learn."

Sorry to tell you Mr. Hamm, that isn't her job.  Teaching compassion is the job of the parent.  Her job is to teach children how to think for themselves, not what to think.  Did she go over the evidence of the case?  Did she tell these students that this man has had two trials and numerous hearings and the best the defense can come up with is that it was a racist police force that sent an innocent man to jail because he was black and a political activist?  If not, that isn't compassion, that is indoctrination.  There are two sides to this story.  Now, don't get me wrong, I think this way beyond what a third-grader should be taught in a classroom.  But the point is still the same.  

Yes Ms. Zuniga should lose her job.  She wasn't doing her job.  She was making political points in a classroom.  That is a job of an activist, not an educator.  She should lose her job the same way the teacher who went an anti-Obama rant should lose hers.  You are not there to push your point of view.  You are there to help them develop their own point of view.  

If you have any doubts that she is an activist her tweet that caused this uproar says it all:

Just dropped off these letters to comrade Johanna Fernandez. My 3rd graders wrote to Mumia to lift up his spirits as he is ill. #freemumia

Comrade?  Oh yeah, she doesn't have an agenda.   

The part I think I like best about this whole thing is this:

"In April, I mentioned to my students that Mumia was very ill and they told me they would like to write 'get well' letters to Mumia,"

That's right, lets throw the eight-year-olds under the bus.  

Just In Case You Were Unclear of NJ Teen Motives in Suing Her Parents

Oh my.  Ms. Rachel posted this on her Facebook fan page.  Education for Rachel.

“Suburban baby boomer types are the spoiled lot, they make massive amount of money a year, they are used to flying to luxury destinations when they want, and buy things that they don’t need, people should be inclined to see things Rachel’s way.  We have been stunned by the financial greed of modern parents who are more concerned with retiring into some fantasy world rather than provide for their children’s college and young adult years. In today’s economy there are no more meaningful jobs and without family help it’s usually military or bust. We see parents like this every day, children were always an accessory to them and nothing more, once that accessory grew up and went out of fashion, much like a marriage that people allegedly commit to, the child becomes a throwaway, that’s just how it is.”

Really?  How dare parents save for retirement?  What kind of monsters are they?  Go ahead and read the page, it is all me, me, me, and more me.  She talks about herself in the third person.

She may have legal standing with her college fund as they are usually set up in the child's name, but apparently that isn't enough for this young woman.  She wants 100% of education funded.  It just amazes that the adults in her life are funding not only this behavior, but this mindset.  What are these parents teaching their own children?  I guess if one of this family's kids commits a crime they can use the Affluenza defense.

I do have one question for Ms. Rachel, if there are no more meaningful jobs why bother to spend the money on an education, you can just then sue for your family to support the rest of your life, right?  Oh yeah, you want to party for a few years.

When Does Your Job as Parent End? New Jersey Teen Suing for Parents to Pay College Tuition

Rachel Canning, an 18-year-old senior in a private Catholic high school has filed suit in Superior Court in New Jersey to pay back bills on her high school tuition and to give her access to her college fund.  Rachel turned 18 last fall.  After her 18th birthday she moved in with the family of her best friend (whose father happens to be an attorney who is funding this lawsuit).  She has been attending school since that time and is an honor student.

Her parents claim that she wasn't following the rules of the household.  They say she wasn't doing her chores, wasn't coming home by her set curfew, was disrespectful, didn't treat her sisters very well, and there seems to be an issue with a boyfriend that her parents don't particularly care for.  They believe he is a "bad influence".

Sean Canning said that a DCP&P representative visited his home for about three hours last fall, found nothing amiss, determined that Rachel was “spoiled” and discontinued the investigation. He said that he and his wife are beside themselves that discord with their daughter has reached this level.

Attorney Laurie Rush-Masuret, who represents the parents, said in court papers that Rachel emancipated herself and removed herself from her parent’s “sphere of influence” by voluntarily moving out of their house “as she did not want to abide by her parents’ rules....”

Rush-Masuret and Sean Canning said that Rachel was seeing a therapist long before moving out and is supposed to take medication. The parents contend she had disciplinary problems at school last term, was suspended twice, ignored her curfew at home and bullied her younger sister.

This in many ways boils down to our house, our rules.  Virtually every young adult has heard that coming from at least one of their parents.  But how far does the responsibility of parenting go once the child has turned of legal age?  She is still in high school so it does seem fair to me that her parents pay the back tuition of the school they had her enrolled in before this incident took place.  That seem very reasonable to me.  But she kind of loses me when it comes to the college education.

No parent should be forced to pay for a college education.  Has that become a "right" now as well?  My parents didn't pay for mine.  My mother was from a generation that believed that girls didn't need to go to college.  She has since realized that is not true in the world we live in today, but when I was in high school and college, she firmly believed that.  Should I have taken her to court to try to get money?  That seems more than just a little absurd to me.

We don't know the details of what happened.  This is going to come down to the parents word against hers.  I am sure they will both be able to find witnesses that can testify to their version of the story.  It then leaves a judge to decide is it really the parents responsibility to support an adult while they are in college if they don't want to?

It seems that New Jersey law may be on her side:

The mere fact that a child has turned 18 is not an automatic reason to stop financial support, according to Helfand and several longtime family attorneys in Morris County. A key court decision in the state specifies that, “A child’s admittance and attendance at college will overcome the rebuttable presumption that a child may be emancipated at age 18.”

Prominent family-law attorneys Sheldon Simon and William Laufer both called the lawsuit highly unusual and Laufer said he has seen nothing like it in 40 years of practice.

“A child is not emancipated until they’re on their own,” Simon said. “Even if a child and the parents don’t get along, that doesn’t relieve the parents of their responsibility.” Laufer noted that under New Jersey law, a child can still be declared nonemancipated even if there is a hiatus between high school graduation and college.

So let me get this straight, a child turns 18, the legal age of adulthood in this country, finishes high school, hangs out for a year or two doing heavens knows what, decides to go back to college and then should be expected to remain a child and stay the financial responsibility of the parent?  Got it.

Is it any wonder that people today are leaning more and more to nanny state government?  Now it could be that this law was designed for purposes of getting student loans.  If the child is still dependent on the parent for financial support, then the parents income is what grants and loans for college is based upon.  Most will likely receive more aid if they are nonemanicpated.  But in any case, it is still telling an adult that someone else is responsible for your life, your finances, and your choices.  I have no problem saying that to a parent who is under the age of 18 or still in high school.  But when do we draw the line, legally speaking?

A parent that has a child that they feel is disrespectful and acting like a spoiled brat may have very good reason for saying hey honey, you are on your own.  You made these decisions now you live with the consequences of them.  The parents in this case have kept the car that they bought for their daughter.  They also say that they have done nothing with the college fund that they had set up for her and that she will have access to it.

It will be very interesting to see how this case plays out.  Ms. Rachel should consider herself very lucky that I won't be making this decision for her.  Her parents don't owe her that college fund.  They did that because they wanted to, not because they "had" to.  It isn't the responsibility of the parent to pay for a college education.  If they want to and can help that is wonderful, but it certainly isn't something that is a "right" or should be forced by the rule of law.  The parents should pay the remaining tuition of her high school education.  After that, their job is done.  A college education can be had when the parents don't pay for it, I am living proof of that.

Turns Out, No The Server Wasn't Bashed Because She is Gay. SHOCKER

A server from New Jersey became a nationwide sensation after claiming she wasn't tipped because she is gay.  How exactly the family is supposed to know if someone is gay or not just by looking at them is beyond me, especially in the world of metro sexual men.  But she put a receipt out on social media that showed no tip left on a $93 tab along with a note saying they couldn't tip due to her lifestyle.  She has been getting donations pouring in from all over the country and become sort of like a folk hero for donating some of her windfall to The Wounded Warrior Project.  

A family has come forward with a receipt that matches the one that Ms. Morales has been showing off, the problem is that their receipt has not "hateful" note but does include a tip.  Actually quite a nice one, $18, close to 20%.  The family also has a copy of their visa bill that shows that a charge at that restaurant for that date with the dollar amount that matches the tab plus the tip.  

The woman in question said she believes that it started out as a misunderstanding that she thought the hostess told her that her server was named Dan and said 

"whoa, you're not Dan."

The server story is slightly different:

"oh I thought you were gonna say your name is Dan. You sure surprised us!"

The family decided to come forward because the story didn't seem to be going away.  I am glad that they did come forward because this young woman is profiting off a lie that she is somehow a victim of bias and hate.  

"I just felt like people have a right to know that -- it's fine if people want to donate to her or to the Wounded Warriors, but they're doing it under a false pretense,"

One would think that this young woman has some sort of agenda.  Whatever could that be?  

The Ugly Politics of a Tragedy

New Jersey and Parts of New York City are quite literally a disaster area.  Hospitals are without power after the back-up systems also failed.  The National Guard had to carry the patients out to relocate them to another hospital that can give them care.  There is little power, train stations are flooded, tracks are littered with debris (such as boats), some track is simply missing.  There are people in  New Jersey that have lost most of what they own.  Think about that, all their family photos, mementos, their keepsakes of people who have passed away; things that can never be replaced.

Chris Christie is being given sh*t about saying that President Obama has been available and given him the resources he needs to help the citizens of his state rebuild their lives.  I am floored.  This is how far people are willing to go to play politics days before a presidential election?  A very sad state of affairs, very sad.  No, it is shameful.

While of course going to survey the damage is nothing more than a photo-op, but the reality is this; had he not gone and done that photo-op he would be lambasted for that.  Sadly, we have gotten to the point in this country that no matter who is president when these tragedies take place they are a in a no-win situation; damned if they show up, damned if they don't.

Tucker Carlson has gone as far as to say that Christie can't stand Romney and he is saying this to get back at him for some reason that he doesn't clearly define.  Others have said he is positioning himself for a run for the presidency in 2016, therefore it is in his interests for Governor Romney to lose.

It wasn't all that long ago that people were talking about Christie was going to be the VP pick, and what a mistake that would be.  Christie was a supporter of Mitt early on, giving him calls of RINO for turning his back on the more conservative candidates.

Lets look at the facts, Christie has travelled around the country to campaign for Mitt.  It seems to me that people are taking their hatred of President Obama out on Christie.  The truth of the matter is, the president does very little when it comes to a disaster.  Most of the work is done on the state level.  The president signs a declaration of major disaster that allows FEMA to start flowing federal money into the state.  But the real work is done by NGO's such as The Red Cross, The United Way, and countless others.  The calls for the National Guard comes at the state level.  The federal government can do nothing without permission at the state level (Remember Gov. Blanco during Katrina dragging her heals?).

Yes, there is an election in five days.  Yes, I personally believe that President Obama being re-elected would be a horrible for this country.  Yes, Governor Christie is not a conservative.  None of that changes the facts that we should be thinking about the people who are living in the aftermath of the storm before we think about the politics of it all.

I think that the people who are criticizing Christie who is dealing with an overwhelming situation should STFU.  He is the one that is walking around looking at the affected areas with the residents and listening to their tears and stories of grief.  I watched a little of it on the news yesterday and I had tears streaming down my face watching this woman talk about the things from her deceased husband and son that were lost.  She is devastated.  While it is true that she should be grateful that she survived, it doesn't make her loss any easier to deal with.  Her emotions are raw.

I was appalled at how the left politicized Katrina and turned President Bush into a murderer and uncaring monster to score political points. I am equally appalled that it seems the right is bound and determined to do something similar to Governor Christie for simply saying that President Obama has helped to give him the resources he needs.

This is not about politics.  This is about a tragedy of almost biblical proportions.  Real people are in pain, almost sixty people lost their lives, the temperatures in that area are dropping in the overnight, and these people are without heat and basic necessities.  The water systems are not working correctly in some areas, which can cause major health problems.  People are living in makeshift shelters, trying to get over the trauma of losing most of what they own.  There will be people who will be unable to work and will not get paid.  In these times when people are already struggling to pay the bills, think of the long-term effects that can have on their lives.

Get over yourselves.  This isn't about politics, this is about helping your fellow-man.  If you are unable to help, then the least you can do is shut up.  This is a time to come together and do what we can to help those who have lost everything.

Instead of complaining, donate to The Red Cross here.

This has just furthered my belief that politics are ugly and downright inhumane.

Christie and Booker - "We've Got This" - Video

The Governor of New Jersey and the Mayor of Newark have a little fun and hilarity ensues: