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Clare Frederick
on Nov 19 2009 - 02:10 PM
San Joaquin Valley issues: A mother's perspective
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Chit Chat
on Nov 18 2009 - 01:00 PM
Dirty Laundry: After being force-fed with self-esteem, students get a taste of reality
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Annie Plowman
on Nov 7 2009 - 11:25 AM
Good Neighbor or Good Fence? Tell me What you think.
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- gail marshall - Profile | Pictures | Blog
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I am a peace-loving person. I like a cute, quiet, mellow home decorated with cheery colors. Sweetness and light, harp music on the stereo, I'm there.
So what did I choose for a career -- journalism! Political journalism! And now, I am responsible for producing that cage fight of all rhetorical discussion -- political talk radio, mostly conservative talk radio at that. I know! What was I thinking?
It's balance, y'know? It's all about balance. Yesterday, for example, we had a rousing discussion on union labor featuring Richard Epstein, an uber-intellect with credentials from Stanford, University of Chicago and New York University. Very stimulating.
But I am also completely enchanted with the wisdom of kindergarten teachers. I really think more of them should run for office and straighten out the Legislature. What do we expect? We elect a bunch of Type A executives and lawyers to office, and then we are surprised when they create the political version of "Scream!" in Sacramento and Washington.
Well, they could learn something from elementary school teachers. I was amused the other day to hear about a little peacemaking technique that teachers use with kids called "a bug and wish." It's a simple way of communicating that helps kids tackle difficult topics.
It's easy, and it works like this: If someone hurts or annoys you, go to that person and tell them that you have a bug and a wish. If the person accepts it, you tell that person, "It bugs me when you borrow my pencils, and I wish you would remember to bring your own supplies." This is genius in its simplicity. It requires the complainer to offer a remedy, not just a problem. In government, this simple idea so often escapes our illustrious representatives. The speakers often present a long list of "bugs" with no "wishes" -- no solutions -- attached. Or they present a long list of "wishes" with no "bugs" to explain the significance of the problem.
Kelly Ripa did a funny little bit on this technique recently on TV. She learned it from her kids and quickly applied it to married life. She said something like thi s: It bugs me when you steal the olives out of my martini. I wish you would order more olives. See what I mean? Kindergarten teachers are brilliant!
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