My letter to the people working to resolve the Deepwater Horizon Oil Leak

I have submitted this to the Deepwater Horizon Response team...

take a moment to consider... and be grateful for those people in your life without whom you would be up a creek without a canoe, paddle, or a cooler.

To All The People Working to Resolve the Oil Leak in the Gulf of Mexico,

I am writing to say thank you for all the time you have already put in, for all of the attempts at solutions you have already tried. I want to let you know, as a private citizen and as an engineer, that I understand and honor all that you continue to do.

I know from personal experience how little recognition engineers and technicians receive when they are doing their regular jobs. I know that the only time most people even see us and know that we exist, is when there is a problem (usually one we didn't create)... and when they do, they want to know why we haven't solved their problem yesterday (forgetting that we were told there "wasn't a budget" to solve that yesterday :) ). I personally know what it is like to have a manager urgently breathing down your neck demanding solutions, and knowing darn well that same manager wouldn't be able to solve the problem without you. And I know how hard it is to create a real solution under those conditions.

I know that all of you care about solving this crisis as quickly as possible, and have spent months focused on this endeavor. I want to thank you for the thoughts of work you've had while doing your laundry, and for every World Cup game you didn't see because you were working. Thank you for every fast-food meal you've eaten at your desk, and for every night you tossed and turned in your bed, wishing that this was all just done with already.

What you are doing right now is much more important than any song written by the Beatles, and you deserve to be lauded by every teenager holding your name up on a sign and wearing your face on a t-shirt, and fainting from the sight of you in honor of your beautiful minds. You deserve to be celebrated for the work you do, every single day.

I want to thank you for your mind. For your heart. For your desire to resolve this crisis. I stand in gratitude for the solution that has yet to happen, and am certain that you have it within you to bring it forward.

I wish for you a management who listens to you and who goes to bat for you; an IT support staff who keeps all your computers and printers functioning; and understanding friends and family who cheer for you in a personal way.

Please take good care of yourselves. Take time to let your brain rest. Get a massage. Innovative solutions come from a brain that has a spare moment to access its creative side.

Thank you for al you have done to try to resolve the oil leak, and thank you for the solution that is on its way. I sincerely appreciate you.

Best Regards,
Kathleen P. Hunter, PE

This post will likely upset someone, maybe even you...

So. It's been a while since I have written.

I am feeling inspired to write. By this:
http://rollingout.com/newsapolitics/politics/9409-african-american-studies-programs-banished-in-arizona.html

Now, I am not someone who enjoys getting all worked up for nothing, it vexes the spirit in me. And I find that a lot of "the news" is just that - Inflammatory. So, I approach articles like the one above with suspicion. I cannot tell from this article how much is truth, and how much was strung together by the blogger to make a point that has little to do with reality. Much like most of the news.

but the first thing I did, was to go looking for the bill referenced by the blogger above. Here is "Senate Bill 1069" for Arizona:
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1069s.pdf
It's about driving under the influence (of drugs & alcohol). I went through all the amendments I could find, and see nothing at all about any school programs, at all.

the bill I did find about Arizona school programming was this, House Bill 2281:
http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/hb2281s.htm
which appears to be the bill that has the blogger all riled up.

Only, when I read this bill, I can't tell what everyone is upset about. (Please go read it for yourself before continuing, it's short and to the point and pretty freaking clear to someone not legally trained, and I don't want to include the whole text here.)

What I see in House Bill 2281, is an attempt to prevent the teaching of classes which would "Promote resentment toward a race or class of people." (that's section A.2, but that pretty much sums it up for me)

Umm... where is the problem with that?

Lemme see... they even call out what is allowable (Section E)... teaching of controversial events in history. Grouping of pupils by ability that might result in a classroom having a "disparate impact by ethnicity" (such as in the teaching of english). And, the history of any ethnic group, as long as the teaching of that does not promote resentment, the overthrow of the US government, or are designed for a particular ethnic group, excluding others.

I. Still. Do. Not. See. The. Problem. With. This. Bill.

(if you, out there, read the bill and show me where the problem is, I am listening. Feel free to post feedback.)

What I Do see, are people getting upset by some blogger, who, from where I sit, didn't even get the number of the bill right, and screaming that word... you know the word... RACISM. And... It's in Arizona. Which, in the case of this bill, which the people getting upset probably didn't read, would mean that Whitey is out to get somebody, because Arizona passed that Immigration Bill, that frankly, I haven't read, so I am not going to comment on.

I find it really interesting how ready people are to believe that if a person has their doubts about Obama? They're a RACIST. If they are concerned about the economic feasibility about the healthcare plan? They're a RACIST. If they support Arizona's Immigration Bill? They're a RACIST. If they have any affiliation to The Tea Party? They're a RACIST.

What the fuck??

What year is this??? I ask you, dear readers (all two of you), do you honestly believe this? Why are you so ready to believe that someone is out to get you just because of the color of their skin? Know what that belief, that fear, is??? I give you one guess.

it's RACISM.

The media, and now any blogger, can put forth their ideas, just as I am doing. Can hold a mirror up to the world and ask "Do you see what I see?" OR "Do you see what I Want you to see?"

I am, however, asking you to question what you see. Even the post I give you, and definately the blog I listed at the top of the article.

What I see, is that the only way this bill, in the form I am reading it today, will have any impact on any school district's programming, is if there is (a) someone having a class about white supremacy or some other idiotic class that nobody should have allowed to begin with or (b) some school administrator is a total dumb-ass, and never bothered reading the bill, freaks out, and cancels something that is actually protected by the bill to begin with... which, lets face it, is possible... but is not the fault of the bill as I am reading it this evening, 13 May 2010.

What I know is that I am hearing some seriously varying stories on all things in the tub of immigration, tea parties, healthcare, etc. And people seem pretty freaking riled up about it.

Is throwing the word "Racist" around of service to the United States that you wish existed? Do you believe that the people you know personally your neighbors, friends, facebook friends, relatives who don't have the skin color you have, Racist?

Is there healing and more understanding needed between people of differing skin colors? Yes, I think so.

But believing someone a racist, flat-out? Have you heard their side? Have they listened to yours?

How does that behavior serve that healing?

where are we going, and how can we go higher from here? That's really all I want to know.

(and I just have to say, if the blogger listed above is correct, all foreign language classes will also be cancelled, along with the study of the French Impressionists, and English Romantic Poets. OK I'm done here...)