(no subject)
Apr. 29th, 2011 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* Re Uncle John: He called early this morning to say he was fine, despite the flattening of his section of Birmingham. Apparently, they lost power a few days previously, and he'd gone to stay somewhere else until power was restored, so was in an area the tornado missed. I have no idea if his house or the facility where he was staying is still there as I was asleep when he called and didn't have a lot of time to ask questions as he needed to save his phone's electrical charge.
I am still trying to wrap my head around my Uncle being saved by a power outage.
* To donate to the Red Cross to help folks in the states hit by the tornadoes and storm, you can text Redcross to 90999, phone 1800-Red-Cross, or go to their website: https://american.redcross.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ggl_main&gclid=CJ-O9pjJwKgCFRFOgwodN2MFrw
* I have no words for the devastation down there.
* Democrats in Massachusetts, seeing how wiildly unpopular union stripping bills are for the Republicans, have jumped on the anti-Union bandwagon. *facepalm* I can only ask, "Are they stupid or delusional?" It's passed the state House. Let's hope the senate has more sense.
* Indiana is completely defunding Planned Parenthood, at a cost to the state of 4 million. What does it matter if you are increasing the budget deficit if it's in the cause of making women in poverty die of cancer and spreading STIs! What would Jesus do? Kill women and spread disease, right?
* We know perfectly well that the ways to fix schools are: 1. Fund head start/free and reduced lunch programs. 2. Properly fund the schools. 3. Smaller class sizes (research shows 15-18 is optimal. Guess what Private school class size generally is? 15-18. It's not a coincidence; they read the research). 4. Integrate socio-economic classes instead of concentrating poverty. 5. Local control. We know this, just like we've known for a decade and a half charter schools perform at best as well as equivalent public schools and usually perform less well for more money. The data is there.
So what is Michigan doing to "fix" the Public schools? Cutting the funding by $500.00 per child, abolishing standardized testing only for charter schools, and abolishing school boards to allow takeover by people also taking money from business. As this is the opposite of what actually needs doing, I can only assume that this is a deliberate attempt to prevent students from learning.
* Katie miller has been denied readmission due to DADT. Sigh.
* Yes, I saw the footage of the racist and mysogynistic comments being made in the Oklahoma state Legislature by Sally Kern. I won't dignify them by linking or repeating them. Who would have though that this sort of thing is considered acceptable in the 21st century? I wish we were better than that as a country. I wish that openly espousing white supremacist opinions would be an automatic end to a career in any field. It's not, and that is a national shame.
* fobok helpfully explains the Canadian election, as I have been only getting glimpses, mostly through radio ads and a wry DJ commentary. Thank you, fobok: http://gwyd.livejournal.com/1119920.html?thread=2205872#t2205872
* Why spark in darkness is not watching the Royal Wedding: http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2011/04/ill-not-be-watching-royal-wedding.html
* deusabscondum on marriage equality: http://deusabscondidum.livejournal.com/210469.html
* And a comic: http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/current/index-1.gif
* I'm linking this, as I can't possibly say anything batter tha this about the latest round of Birther racism: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#42791793
I am still trying to wrap my head around my Uncle being saved by a power outage.
* To donate to the Red Cross to help folks in the states hit by the tornadoes and storm, you can text Redcross to 90999, phone 1800-Red-Cross, or go to their website: https://american.redcross.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=ggl_main&gclid=CJ-O9pjJwKgCFRFOgwodN2MFrw
* I have no words for the devastation down there.
* Democrats in Massachusetts, seeing how wiildly unpopular union stripping bills are for the Republicans, have jumped on the anti-Union bandwagon. *facepalm* I can only ask, "Are they stupid or delusional?" It's passed the state House. Let's hope the senate has more sense.
* Indiana is completely defunding Planned Parenthood, at a cost to the state of 4 million. What does it matter if you are increasing the budget deficit if it's in the cause of making women in poverty die of cancer and spreading STIs! What would Jesus do? Kill women and spread disease, right?
* We know perfectly well that the ways to fix schools are: 1. Fund head start/free and reduced lunch programs. 2. Properly fund the schools. 3. Smaller class sizes (research shows 15-18 is optimal. Guess what Private school class size generally is? 15-18. It's not a coincidence; they read the research). 4. Integrate socio-economic classes instead of concentrating poverty. 5. Local control. We know this, just like we've known for a decade and a half charter schools perform at best as well as equivalent public schools and usually perform less well for more money. The data is there.
So what is Michigan doing to "fix" the Public schools? Cutting the funding by $500.00 per child, abolishing standardized testing only for charter schools, and abolishing school boards to allow takeover by people also taking money from business. As this is the opposite of what actually needs doing, I can only assume that this is a deliberate attempt to prevent students from learning.
* Katie miller has been denied readmission due to DADT. Sigh.
* Yes, I saw the footage of the racist and mysogynistic comments being made in the Oklahoma state Legislature by Sally Kern. I won't dignify them by linking or repeating them. Who would have though that this sort of thing is considered acceptable in the 21st century? I wish we were better than that as a country. I wish that openly espousing white supremacist opinions would be an automatic end to a career in any field. It's not, and that is a national shame.
* fobok helpfully explains the Canadian election, as I have been only getting glimpses, mostly through radio ads and a wry DJ commentary. Thank you, fobok: http://gwyd.livejournal.com/1119920.html?thread=2205872#t2205872
* Why spark in darkness is not watching the Royal Wedding: http://www.sparkindarkness.com/2011/04/ill-not-be-watching-royal-wedding.html
* deusabscondum on marriage equality: http://deusabscondidum.livejournal.com/210469.html
* And a comic: http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/current/index-1.gif
* I'm linking this, as I can't possibly say anything batter tha this about the latest round of Birther racism: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#42791793
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-29 09:43 am (UTC)...that makes me very sad. Because it's so very much a shaming thing - they want the young women who go there to feel bad instead of finding a way out of poverty and uselessness.
Right there seems to be one of the great slogans of the Republican party: helping people bad, shaming people good, ignoring people best.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-29 10:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-29 01:03 pm (UTC)Jesse Helms....nuff said.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-30 01:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-29 07:30 pm (UTC)