The US and Arizona flag were flying at half-mast as I arrived at 8am at the middle school. Why was the flag flying at half-mast I asked the front desk attendant.
"It's for the police memorial" said the clerk, in honor of two cops killed this weekend in Phoenix.
The school's principal was also named Arizona's top principal of middle schools. The students were all assembled outside to honor her. Who said public education stinks in this state? I know that the schools here are pretty good.
I had English today, and the students were a fun but loud bunch. I recognized one gal from this weekend's West End Fair. A few others I have had several times before. So I don't know if it's me feeling more confident or I'm getting better at instructing. I don't remember the last time I ended the school day feeling exhausted.
But one girl today was expecially chatty with me. She was telling me about her boxer-mastiff dog that's pregnant. "My mom wants to call animal control and say get rid of this dog, it had puppies in my garage" to avoid paying the surender fee of $50. She volunteered all kinds of stories of evictions due to lack of rent payments and other legal issues. She also gets to babysit her half brothers whenever her mother insists on it, and in her county home there are few girls her age to socialize with. School is her time to chat and chat she did. This girl is in dire need of parental supervision. I would have enjoyed chatting with her some more but I had to supervise the rest of the class, but her need to feel accepted hung over me like a dark shadow; she's an intelligent girl that isn't thriving in her home environment.
In my hour off I listend to NPR discuss the raid and subsequent killing of Osama bin Laden, the world's most infamous terrorist. The question remains: will photographs of his dead body be released to the world? I don't mind looking at corpses, especially of murderers, but I know in the Arab world that only gives the thugs reason to retaliate. Arabs are storytellers, and as long as they aren't convinced that OBL is dead, they will talk about his resurrection.
At least now we can know for sure that the next time OBL speaks via tape or videorecording, he is talking from the afterlife. I don't normally feel good about the death of anyone, but with OBL I feel a great relief is over our collective shoulders. Those countries that becry the US military action are secretly glad OBL is gone. They just want to further the theory that the US feels it can go anywhere it pleases to take out whomever. Pakistan has some explaining to do.
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