Should toys be egalitarian?

An article to ponder we drink our morning coffee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/opinion/does-stripping-gender-from-toys-really-make-sense.html?_r=2

A very interesting article, and I am looking for the study to read as well!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-about-better-parents.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share

Exercise to Excise Fat!

Remember to start and end each workout with a five-minute warm-up / cool down, and to stretch afterward (or hobble to your car if you are me!). Also, here is a legend for the directions:


* EASY = everyday stroll
** MODERATE = you have to catch your breath occasionally
*** BRISK = carrying on a conversation with a friend would be difficult


WEEK ONE
Mon: Walking, easy pace*, 3 miles
Tues: Any low-intensity activity (like gardening, house cleaning, or bike riding) for 30 consecutive minutes
Wed: Walking, moderate pace**, 3 miles
Thurs: Off
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 30 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 3 miles
Sun: Off


WEEK TWO
Mon: Walking, easy, 3 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity, 30 minutes
Wed: Walking, moderate, 3 miles
Thurs: Walking, easy, 2 miles
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 30 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 4 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK THREE
Mon: Hill walking (on rolling terrain, a treadmill set at 3%-5% incline, or up and down parking lot ramps during non-peak periods), easy, 3 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity,40 minutes
Wed: Walking, moderate, 3 miles
Thurs: Walking, easy, 2 miles
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 4 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK FOUR
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 3 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity,40 minutes
Wed: Walking, moderate, 3 miles
Thurs: Walking, easy, 2 miles
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 5 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK FIVE
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 3 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity,40 minutes
Wed: Speed play (walking, easy, 2-3 minutes; walking brisk pace***, 3-5 minutes; repeat) 3 miles
Thurs: Walking, easy, 3 miles
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 4 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK SIX
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 4 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity,60 minutes
Wed: Speed play (walking, easy, 2-3 minutes; walking brisk pace***, 3-5 minutes; repeat) 3 miles
Thurs: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 5 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK SEVEN
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 4 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Wed: Speed play (walking, easy, 2-3 minutes; walking brisk pace***, 3-5 minutes; repeat) 4 miles
Thurs: Off (maybe weights)
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 6 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK EIGHT
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 4 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity, 50 minutes
Wed: Speed play (walking, easy, 2-3 minutes; walking brisk pace***, 3-5 minutes; repeat) 4 miles
Thurs: Walking, easy, 2 miles
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 5 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK NINE
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 3 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity, 60 minutes
Wed: Speed play (walking, easy, 2-3 minutes; walking brisk pace***, 3-5 minutes; repeat) 4 miles
Thurs: Walking, easy, 2 miles
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 7 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)




WEEK TEN
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 3 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity, 60 minutes
Wed: Speed play (walking, easy, 2-3 minutes; walking brisk pace***, 3-5 minutes; repeat) 4 miles
Thurs: Off
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 40 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 5 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK ELEVEN
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 3 miles
Tues: Off
Wed: Walking, moderate to brisk, 4-5 miles
Thurs: Off
Fri: Low-intensity activity, 35 minutes
Sat: Walking, easy, 3 miles
Sun: Off (maybe weights?)


WEEK TWELVE
Mon: Hill walking, easy, 3 miles
Tues: Low-intensity activity, 45 minutes
Wed: Off
Thurs: Off
Fri: Off
Sat: Off
Sun: 10-k event day

Justice for Larry King

As an update to this former, I want to tell you that Larry King's murder did have some justice at the boy who killed him plea bargained and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. He will be in jail six years longer than the total amount of time that Larry King walked this earth. He will serve more than Larry King's lifetime. 

No Justice for Larry King, the Legal System Failed Again


As a middle school teacher, I have been following the murder trial of Brandon McInerney since it began eight weeks ago. He is accused of murdering Larry King, a male student who had recently come out. There is no denying that Brandon committed the crime. He shot Larry twice in the back of the head during class. The English class was meeting in the computer lab that February 2008 morning at E.O. Green Junior High School in the Hueneme School District (not Oxnard as the media keeps stating). It appears as though he believed (according to testimony) that Larry was making advances toward him and he did not like that. So he shot the boy--twice--in the back of the head. There was no warning and no provocation. Just BANG, BANG. Then Brandon walked out of the classroom, dropping the gun along the way. 


Due to pretrial publicity, the trial was moved from Ventura--where such a crime is still unheard of and thus became especially sensational--to the town of Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley. The Ventura County Star reported about the trial on a daily basis and the Los Angeles Times even made room for coverage but to a lesser extent than the local paper. The coverage has been fair and unbiased. 


The trial lasted eight weeks. Classmates, teachers, psychiatrists all testified. I believe an assistant principal may have been called to the stand. There was a police witness who claimed that the area in which Brandon grew up was rife with gangs. (Doubtful, it's a beach community!) Was it a gang slaying? Was it a child influenced by white supremacists? That is what the lawyers want you to think. I believe Brandon was afraid that people would think he was gay because Larry allegedly made advances toward him.  


Larry King, the murdered boy, had recently made the decision to come 'out' which upset some classmates and teachers. Many of these teachers believed he was a disruptive force in their classrooms. Others tried to be empathetic but giving the boy nail polish and a used prom dress appears to have taken empathy to a whole new level. (As a teacher for a large metropolitan school district, we are told not to give gifts to students, not to friend them on social media sites, but to be there for them if they need your counsel. We also work with the counseling department and administration. One of the problems I see with this situation was the small size of the district in which it happened and the lack of experience.)


The administration responded (an assistant principal) with an email stating that Larry had the right to his choices (which he does!), but there was never any information on how the school was handling the way he was behaving, and just as importantly, the reactions of other students and staff. 


Brandon came from a troubled home and during the trial it was alleged that his now deceased father was abusive toward him.


Yet, on the day before the murder, Brandon did not speak to any of his family members about the boy who was bothering him at school. He did not speak to a teacher, a counselor, or an administrator. He may not have known where to turn, and in this respect the system has failed him. He simply decided that the only way that the he could take care of the situation was to kill the offending student. He decided he was going to bring a gun to school. 


The next day started like any other. Brandon left for school but when he realized that he did not have the gun, returned home to get it. He brought the loaded weapon to school. He waited to unleash his fury with bullets in the computer lab by shooting Larry twice in the back of the head...in the back of the head. He did not face the boy, he executed him. 


The prosecution tried Brandon as an adult. They even gave the jury an out: if you cannot find him guilty of first degree or even second degree murder, we will put voluntary manslaughter on the table. Yes, voluntary manslaughter for a boy who executed another child in a room full of students and a teacher...a room full of witnesses!


The defense said that Brandon was in a disassociative state and did not know what he was doing. (Going back for the gun and bringing a loaded weapon to school must not count as actions in today's world.) 


Ultimately, the prosecution must have given too many choices to the jury. Seven jurors were in favor of voluntary manslaughter, and five wanted the penalty for first degree murder with special circumstances (hate crime). So the jury was hung and a mistrial was declared. The trial took eight weeks to present and it only took 15 hours to reach their decision. They took three votes. Essentially, that is less time than it took Brandon to make the decision to bring the gun to school. 


I am not trying to be fair or unbiased. I am an outraged observer. Perhaps if less people would shirk their civil duty and actually serve on a jury, this would have had a different outcome. Throughout the trial, jurors kept whining about how long the trial was taking. They made it clear, with their verdict, that they wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. 


Shame on all of you. I, for one, do not know how you can sleep at night.


http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/sep/01/mcinerney-jury-unable-to-reach-verdict-in-3-a/

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/09/01/judge-declares-mistrial-in-mcinerney-case/?utm_source=home&utm_medium=dl&utm_campaign=mcinerney-mistrial