Dear Courtni Webb

Dear Courtni Webb,

I was infuriated to find out that your school principal suspended you for writing a poem in your personal notebook.  In my opinion, what happened to you is wrong.  Professionals can and do make mistakes.  Your principal made a mistake by suspending you.  Your teacher made a mistake by looking through your personal notebook.  Seizure of your personal property and then suspending you for your thoughts and feelings is a violation of your civil rights.  It is unfortunate that Life Learning Academy decided to violate your civil rights.  I am relieved to read that you are back at school and not expelled.

I thought your comparison to Stephen King was spot-on.  I've read almost all of his books.  He knows a lot about a lot of topics.  His writing reflects his knowledge.  And yes, he writes about horrible things.  He is a horror writer.  To understand horror is a burden.  And like Stephen King, your writing demonstrates that indeed you  understand horror.

Some people who truly understand horror become writers like Stephen King.  Others become crime fighters-- hostage negotiators, investigators, civil rights activists.  A few are murdered for their understanding.  Martin Luther King was one man who practiced  non-violence and died for what he believed in.

Courtni, your poem should be published in a book or a magazine.  I think your writing is that good.  Please do not allow the censorship of your self-expression to sour you on writing.  I hope that you keep on writing if you want to.  And I hope that you do want to keep on writing.  When you are ready, you may consider getting published in zines and litmags [Look in your public library for the annual Poets Market and Writers Market books], writing a poetry chapbook, reading your work at open mic nights.  I'm going to remember your name Courtni Webb because I believe that you are going to be known.  Someday, your poem will be taught to high school students and your story told as an example of blatant censorship of poets and writers.  I believe this and I believe in you.

Yours in the Struggle,

radical sapphoq





References can be found by typing "Courtni Webb" into your search engine.

Here are a few of the many that I read:
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_poet.aspx?ID=26625

An article by my blogging buddy Chrystal Mahan here:
http://www.examiner.com/article/student-suspended-for-writing-newton-shooting-poem 

http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/california-teenager-suspended-for-writing-poetry/

http://topsy.com/www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/courtni-webb_n_2376833.html

http://madamenoire.com/tag/courtni-webb/

http://www.mysistagurl.com/2012/12/i-know-why-he-pulled-trigger-17-yo-high.html

http://myblacknews.net/fair-or-foul-san-francisco-high-school-student-suspended-for-writing-poem-about-newtown-shooting-i-know-why-he-pulled-the-trigger/12/31/2012/

http://www.prisonplanet.com/high-school-student-faces-expulsion-for-writing-poem-about-sandy-hook-massacre.html

http://intuitivefred888.blogspot.com/2012/12/freedom-of-expression.html

http://beyondproject.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/where-can-young-people-go-for-refuge-open-letter-to-the-principle-and-governors-of-life-learning-academy-san-francisco/

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/07/punishing-poets-is-not-the-way-to-stop-school-violence/

http://politic365.com/2013/01/05/adolescence-adam-lanza-sympathy-and-free-speech-infringement/

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/01/03/matt-gurney-suspending-a-kid-for-saying-pow-just-makes-schools-look-stupid/

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/02/courtni-webb-high-school-_n_2396289.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/courtni-webb_n_2376833.html

http://www.eurweb.com/2013/01/project-islamic-hope-launches-petition-in-support-of-courtni-webb/

One Trillion, Two Trillion, Three Trillion, Four

I been reading bits about making a trillion dollar coin and I think to myself, I don't know very much about economics but I believe the people who are seriously considering this are either on drugs or ought to be.  If this is a stunt that Obama and some others are considering in order to force agreement about what to do about the national debt, it stinks.  If this is a sneaky way to artificially create a higher debt ceiling without Congressional approval, it stinks.  In short, I think the whole idea is stupid.

I don't know much about economics but I do know about fake paper money that kids and some adults use to play board games.  If I grabbed up a handful of that fake paper money and went to the bank with it, I would not have any more money in there than I already do.  If I tried to pay for weekly groceries with it or even crickets for the frog, I would go home without.  Meanwhile, we the nation just keep spending what we haven't got.  And to make things worse, we spend money on nations in foreign places that don't even like us in the first place. 

I understand that a certain amount of national debt floats around out of necessity for obscure to me economic reasons that I don't get.  But cripes people, enough is enough.  I don't care when we did hit that whoa spot or even which politicians or presidents that people wish to blame.  My point is that we are going to have to make some tough choices if we want to truly lower the amount of debt that we as a nation owe.  Thus, I have some proposals which we can call the ten/ten/ten plan:

1).  Quit lending other nations money for any reason.

2).  Quit giving other nations money for any reason.

3).  No more bail-outs for any reason.  This is a sink or swim deal.
If you can't swim, then get out of the water.

4).  Take our entire budget, all the pork barrel projects and all the stuff that our government funds and cut everything-- all of it, no exceptions-- by ten percent for the next ten years.

5).  Raise taxes by ten percent for the next ten years for everyone.

6).  Freeze any new government mandates on the states for the next ten years.  Every time there is a mandate, we end up paying for it.  ENOUGH.

7).  Cut salaries of all of the politicians in Washington D.C. from
the President right on through Congress people, Representatives,
aides and all of that by ten percent for the next ten years.  No raises.
And dump the high tech professional lobbying groups.

8).  Get rid of the expensive private planes and gas guzzlers that any of the politicians ride around in.  Let them take regular planes like anyone else, preferably economy class.  No chauffeurs either.  No more free coffee.  If there is a community coffee pot, and a politician wants some, let them pay ten dollars a cup-- to go toward the budget.  These people have lived large on our backs for too long.

9).  No more bossing other countries around for any reason.  No more committees meeting in order to try to boss around the internet world wide.  No more prosecution of people living in other places for what they do on the internet.  If their own countries aren't going after them, we shouldn't either.  No more interference in their wars, who they get to lead their countries, funding of any military groups other than our own, nada.  Zip.  We live in a great country but we are not the be all and end all of all the other countries.  So how about that we quit acting like we are.  NO INTERFERENCE IN THE AFFAIRS OF OTHER COUNTRIES, PERIOD.

10). Require regular high school students to pass at least one course in world economics before graduation.  A few of those kids are going to be politicians and hopefully the next crop will have a bit more knowledge about economics and how to budget than the current crop does.

Enough is enough.  I don't want any stinking fake coin for any reason.  If we want something different, we got to do something different.  Pulling together would be a great start.  If we do this stuff now, it will be difficult for the next ten years.  Everyone will whine but then perhaps we will get over it.  And become the great country that we profess to be.

I love my country.  It's all the idiocy that happens in D.C. that I can't stand.

radical sapphoq

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/el-erian-trillion-dollar-platinum-164708243.html

http://www.neprepzone.com/article/20130111/MONEY/701119948

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1357912800.php

http://news.yahoo.com/blog-commenter-invented-trillion-dollar-coin-105820842--politics.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/legend-trillion-dollar-coin-grows-as-white-house-declines-to-rule-it-out/