Making the stimulus funds work...Go Tennessee!!!

Picture of the week

Courtesy of the Mudflats blog:

Postcards from Amerah

THE TEACHER APPLICANT
After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching prospect said,
"Let me see if I've got this right, You want me to go into that room with all those kids,

1. correct their disruptive behavior,
2. observe them for signs of abuse,
3. monitor their dress habits,
4. censor their T-shirt messages,
5. and instill in them a love for learning.

You want me to..

6. check their backpacks for weapons,
7. wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and
8. raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.

You want me to.....

9. teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and
10. how to register to vote,
11. balance a checkbook, and
12. apply for a job.

You want me to

13. check their heads for lice,
14. recognize signs of anti-social behavior, and
15. make sure that they all pass the state exams.

You also want me to

16. provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and
17. communicate regularly with their parents in English and Spanish by letter, telephone, conferences, email, homework hotline, web page, midterm newsletters, and report card.

You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

You want me to do all this and then you tell me. . ."I CAN'T PRAY!!!!!"

Got one for ya...

Denny Bush "No Stranger to the Hard Times" He's the father of one of my newfound Facebook friends :)



Thanks, Denny, I needed that today!

Pure Poetry...

I have to share this post with you. If you are a social worker then you will get why...

One Little Polish Girl's post from June 30, 2009

"Last Friday, we all spent the day painting the walls of the building I work in. Today we are rearranging the cubicles and there is much crashing, pounding and bashing going on. Everyone was dreading this day because of the interruption it would cause to their work and because they were afraid they would lose precious space. Turns out, they are gaining space and some privacy so the overall atmosphere in here today is cheery!

I've told you before that I work for a small not for profit social service agency. We are a rag tag bunch to be sure. At first sight, we don't look like your average social work types and, more often than not, people mistake that for a lack of professionalism. The bottom line is that here at KHDS we believe, first and foremost, in the people we serve. We work with alcoholics, mentally ill, developmentally disabled, drug addicted, homeless, unemployed, uninsured people. They don't always look clean or smell good or speak clearly and, sometimes, they are beliggerant and ornery. They hang out outside our building, come in and mess up our rest rooms and, once in a while, walk out with someone's purse or jacket. Other agencies put limits on the amount of time their clients can be in their buildings or when they can show up at all. Other agencies have nice carpeting and furniture and real plants in their lobbies bathed in track lighting. We have a fake ficus on a used end table. We believe that any funds we recieve is best used in programs that help those we serve and not in the interior design of our building. We also believe that if you are wearing a suit it's likely you haven't done much hands on social work in a while.

That's why this recent coat of paint and the moving about of some cublicle walls has been so invigorating. The physical participation in doing it has brought us closer together as a team and the actual visualization of our handy work made us proud.

At the end of the day, we may not look like much but we'll charm you with our personable natures and wow you with our skill. We're here to help and that's not just a saying. We really do. So don't mind that there is a tear in the seat of the chair you may sit on...it doesn't matter. What matters are the people who come through our door each day who leave just a little healthier, a little calmer, a little less lonely and a whole lot more confident that they really do have a purpose."

I so want to work at her agency :)

Postcards from Amerah...LMAO!

Southern women appreciate their natural assets:

Clean skin.
A winning smile.
That unforgettable Southern drawl.

Southern women know their manners:
"Yes, ma'am."
"Yes, sir."
"Why, no, Billy!"

Southern women have a distinct way with fond expressions :
"Y'all come back!"
"Well, bless your heart."
"Drop by when you can."
"How's your Momma?"

Southern women know their summer weather report: Humidity
Humidity
Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:
The beach
The rivuh
The crick

Southern women know the joys of June, July, and August:
Colorful hi-heel sandals
Strapless sun dresses
Iced sweet tea with mint

Southern women know everybody's first name: Honey
Darlin'
Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Driving Miss Daisy
Steel Magnolias !
Gone With The Wind

Southern women know their religions:
Baptist
Methodist
Football

Southern women know their country breakfasts:
Red-eye gravy
Grits
Eggs
Country ham
Mouth-watering homemade biscuits with momma's homemade jelly

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:
Chawlston
S'vanah
Foat Wuth
N'awlins
Addlanna

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:
Men in uniform.
Men in tuxedos
Rhett Butler

Southern girls know their prime real estate:
The Mall
The Country Club
The Beauty Salon

Southern girls know the three deadly sins: Having bad Hair and nails
Having bad manners
Cooking bad food




Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit , and that you don't "HAVE" them, you "PITCH" them.
_____

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."
_____

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."
_____

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, . as in: "Going to town, be back directly."
_____

Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.
_____

All Southerners know exactly when "by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.
_____

Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad.. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!
_____

Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and "a right far piece." They also know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20.
_____

Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash.
_____

No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.
_____

A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb , or an adverb.
_____

Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, ... and when we're "in line," we talk to everybody!
_____

Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, even if only by marriage.
_____

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.
_____

Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
_____

Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.
_____

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'," you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!
_____

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it -- we do not like our tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.
_____

And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say ,"Bless her heart" ... and go your own way.
_____

To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!
_____


And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff, ... bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a second language!
_____

And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, all y'all need a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads "I ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could."

Now...... Shugah, send this to someone! who was raised in the South or wish they had been! If you're a Northern transplant, Bless your little heart, fake it. We know you got here as fast as you could

Hey, It's Me, Prin :)

I bet you forgot about me, didn't you? You thought I fell off the edge of the world or something, didn't you? Nope, just basically slackin'. Sometimes you just need to do that to regenerate.

The move, while as traumatic as any move after 11 years, went about as smooth as a move can go. We are in our new "entire" house. Except for the few years we had grandma's house, this is the first time we have had something other than an apartment complex type apartment or a duplex. We took pictures and as soon as we get them developed I'll post them. There are three bedrooms, so we each have one and there is one left for an office, yay! For the first time in 11 years I have bookshelves! Granted, they are boards and blocks, but I kind of like the way they turned out. The best thing about them is that there are no more floor to ceiling boxes with books all over the place. It sure doesn't look like I have that many, but then I did donate about half of them. For the first time the walls are not all stark white, in fact I don't think there is one white wall in the entire place. There are actually a few that are pale yellow, which I love! Remember I told you about our galley kitchen in the old house? The one that only one person could be in at a time. Our new kitchen is HUGE! It even has a bar in the middle of it! When I first saw the house all I could see was "potential" and that's the best part. The owner also said when we get ready he would sell it to us for just what he has in it. Awesome! k, that's enough about us. On to the email I got this morning that spurred me to write.

It has been so long since I lived in an all white community I sometimes forget that they still exist. I know they do, but I just prefer not to dwell on it or venture into them. I got this from The Color of Change this morning and for once it didn't happen in the south, hallelujah!



"Two weeks ago outside Philadelphia, 65 children from a summer camp tried to go swimming at a club that their camp had a contract to use. Apparently, the people at the club didn't know that the group of kids was predominantly Black.

When the campers entered the pool, White parents allegedly took their kids out of the water, and the swimming club's staff asked the campers to leave. The next day, the club told the summer camp that their membership would be canceled and that their payment would be refunded. When asked why, the club's manager said that a lot of kids "would change the complexion ... and the atmosphere of the club."1

A "Whites only" pool in 2009 should not be tolerated. The club's actions appear to be a violation of section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act.2 Whether or not any laws were violated, a "Whites only" pool should be something every American condemns.

Please join us in doing exactly that, and please email your friends and family and invite them to do the same. Your signature will also be used to call on the Department of Justice to evaluate suing the facility under federal law. It takes just a moment to do both, here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/?id=2051-628943

Obama is President but that doesn't mean that suddenly all is fine when it comes to race in America. This is a vivid reminder of what we know still lies beneath the surface.

We all know stories like this one -- similar incidents play out quietly every day in different communities across the country. The difference in this case is that folks got caught and there was a contract in place that makes for a potentially illegal act.

Standing up now isn't just about making things right for these kids in Philadelphia or bringing consequences to this swim club (called the Valley Swim Club). It's about creating a climate of accountability everywhere. If we can publicly shame the Valley Swim Club and hold them accountable for this incident, it will make others think twice before engaging in what appears to be blatant discrimination.

Please join us in condemning the Valley Swim Club's behavior and calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether they violated civil rights laws. And please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/?id=2051-628943

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 10th, 2009"



Thank God for Girard College who stepped in and offered them the use of their pool.

""We had to help," said Girard College director of Admissions Tamara Leclair. "Every child deserves an incredible summer camp experience."

The school already serves 500 campers of its own, but felt they could squeeze in 65 more -- especially since the pool is vacant on the day the Creative Steps had originally planned to swim at Valley Swim Club."


Oh, and here's Valley Swim Clubs CYA statement:

"The club issued this statement late Thursday, responding to the allegations of racism:

The Valley Club is deeply troubled by the recent allegations of racism, which are completely untrue.

We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future.

Our Valley Club deplores discrimination in any form, as is evidenced by our multi-ethnic and diverse membership. Whatever comments may or may not have been made by an individual member is an opinion not shared by The Valley Club Board.

Daniel Veres, a 16-year old Hispanic teen who is also a member, says the entire situation is just a misunderstanding. "We're not judgmental, we're just friendly," Veres said of the mostly white club."



I'll let you chew on that for a bit while I move on to other things...

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has a new report out. "The report describes the unique and crucial role played by defense attorneys in juvenile court proceedings in providing comprehensive legal representation to children charged with offenses." You can access the full report here It's well worth the read.

If you want a great lesson on just how this health-care reform is going to work, read this. Don't just skim it, if you want the lesson :)

Get your free clean energy sticker here from MoveOn.org, the one's that brought you the great Obama sticker last year.

And lastly, for now, you know you need a good belly laugh. Mudflats blog is always good for that. I suggest you put them in your reader, especially now that Palin has resigned. Here's just one recent post:

First Term Quitters Hall of Fame
from The Mudflats by akmuckraker

A number crunching Mudflatter sent the following:

On a hunch, I reviewed online lists of all the men and women who’ve been elected governor of their state since the year 1900. Pored over them for a few hours. Over 1200 politicians have taken that first-term oath of office. Some soon died in office. Many resigned to accept other positions in government, including Spiro Agnew who was “tapped” by Nixon after being the Governor of Maryland for about five minutes. On a handful of occasions, a first-termer was dragged off to the slammer or impeached. One was incapacitated by a nervous breakdown and one left just as impeachment came knocking on his door. So—how many out of over 1200 just up and quit before the end of their term?

Three: Jim McGreevy, Eliot Spitzer and Sarah Palin.



[h/t Mudflatter WalterNeff]"


Some other great titles from Mudflats blog:

GOP Candidates Tell Palin ‘Talk to the Hand!

Palin’s Milllllions of Dollars!

Palin Wonders Why Sudden Resignation is Such a “Darn Big Deal?”

Threatened by Palin, a Blogger Speaks Out. Shannyn Moore, Meet the Press.





**Disclaimer** I did not proofread this 20 times like I usually do, so If a link is not working let me know and I will fix it later. Thanks