Pink Schmink!

Ronni Bennett has been an inspiration since I first discovered her blog "Time Goes By."  She writes honestly and informatively about aging, women's issues, laws, and all kinds of topics that are relevant to many of us.  Today she wrote a wonderful post about Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood.  It's excellent!  Link HERE.

If you get a chance, please read it.  Quite a bit I didn't know about SGK even though I've had a bad feeling about them for a long time.  Something about them seemed exploitative and wrong somehow.  We've learned recently that they have a political agenda (right-wing Republican) and focus more on their own salaries and publicity than the health of women.  Pink schmink!

 

Excerpt from Ronni's blog post:

Compared to Komen's flashy, rhinestone pinkness, Planned Parenthood is a no-nonsense - you might even say, boring - organization that goes about the day-to-day business of providing women's and children's health services.

According to Planned Parenthood, 75 percent of their clients have incomes at or below 150 percent of the U.S. poverty level. For many of them, Planned Parenthood is the only health care they can afford and/or is available in their area. Some people estimate that over the years, as many as one-fifth to one third of American women have used Planned Parenthood's services at least once in their lives.

Ronni included a couple of videos that show what SGK is about.  One is by activist journalist and breast cancer survivor Barbara Ehrenreich and Steven Colbert (about how SGK has sued small groups for using their copyrighted phrase "for the cure."  Check it out.  You'll be glad you did.  Thanks!

While I'm at it, the blogger for "Margaret and Helen" also wrote about this in her usual Maxine kind of way with sharp humor that gets right to the point!  HERE

Way to Go!

Did you hear that a Knoxville restaurant owner refused service to the TN legislator who proposed the "Don't Say Gay" bill?  Love it!!  Here's the link!  Read and smile!  She said he went from stupid to dangerous.  You can show her your support on Facebook.  :-)

Awards and Predictors

The SAG Awards Winners 2012:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“Bridesmaids”
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Help” – SAG Award Winner 2012
“Midnight in Paris”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “J. Edgar”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help” -SAG Award Winner 2012
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”
Armie Hammer, “J. Edgar”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Octavia Spencer, “The Help” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“The Adjustment Bureau”
“Cowboys & Aliens”
Harry Potter and the Deahtly Hallows “Part 2″ – SAG Award Winner 2012
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“X-Men: First Class”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie Or Miniseries
Laurence Fishburne, “Thurgood”
Paul Giamatti, “Too Big to Fail” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Greg Kinnear, “The Kennedys”
Guy Pearce, “Mildred Pierce”
James Woods, “Too Big to Fail”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie Or Miniseries
Diane Lane, “Cinema Verite”
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”
Emily Watson, “Appropriate Adult”
Betty White, “The Lost Valentine”
Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Patrick J. Adams, “Suits”
Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights”
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Kathy Bates, “Harry’s Law”
Glenn Close, “Damages”
Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men”
Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family”
Betty White, “Hot In Cleveland” – SAG Award Winner 2012
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
“Boardwalk Empire” – SAG Award Winner 2012
“Breaking Bad”
“Dexter”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Good Wife”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
“30 Rock”
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Glee”
“Modern Family” – SAG Award Winner 2012
“The Office”
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
“Dexter”
“Game of Thrones” – SAG Award Winner 2012
“Southland”
“Spartacus: Gods of the Arena”
“True Blood”
Screen Actors Guild Awards 48th Annual Life Achievement Award
Mary Tyler Moore

What Do I Know? I'm a Teacher.

Excellent article passed on to me from a friend:  Link here.

In what other profession...

August 27th, 2010 by David Reber

I’m going to step out of my usual third-person writing voice for a moment. As a parent I received a letter last week from the Kansas State Board of Education, informing me that my children’s school district had been placed on “improvement” status for failing to meet “adequate yearly progress” under the No Child Left Behind law.

I thought it ironic that our schools were judged inadequate by people who haven’t set foot in them, so I wrote a letter to my local newspaper. Predictably, my letter elicited a deluge of comments in the paper’s online forum. Many remarks came from armchair educators and anti-teacher, anti-public school evangelists quick to discredit anything I had to say under the rationale of “he’s a teacher.”

What could a teacher possibly know about education?

Countless arguments used to denigrate public school teachers begin with the phrase “in what other profession….” and conclude with practically anything the anti-teacher pundits find offensive about public education. Due process and collective bargaining are favorite targets, as are the erroneous but tightly held beliefs that teachers are under-worked, over-paid (earning million-dollar pensions), and not accountable for anything.

In what other profession, indeed.

In what other profession are the licensed professionals considered the LEAST knowledgeable about the job? You seldom if ever hear “that guy couldn’t possibly know a thing about law enforcement – he’s a police officer”, or “she can’t be trusted talking about fire safety – she’s a firefighter.”

In what other profession is experience viewed as a liability rather than an asset? You won’t find a contractor advertising “choose me – I’ve never done this before”, and your doctor won’t recommend a surgeon on the basis of her “having very little experience with the procedure”.

In what other profession is the desire for competitive salary viewed as proof of callous indifference towards the job? You won’t hear many say “that lawyer charges a lot of money, she obviously doesn’t care about her clients”, or “that coach earns millions – clearly he doesn’t care about the team.”

But look around. You’ll find droves of armchair educators who summarily dismiss any statement about education when it comes from a teacher. Likewise, it’s easy to find politicians, pundits, and profiteers who refer to our veteran teachers as ineffective, overpriced “dead wood”. Only the rookies could possibly be any good, or worth the food-stamp-eligible starting salaries we pay them.

And if teachers dare ask for a raise, this is taken by many as clear evidence that teachers don’t give a porcupine’s posterior about kids. In fact, some say if teachers really cared about their students they would insist on earning LESS money.

If that entire attitude weren’t bad enough, what other profession is legally held to PERFECTION by 2014? Are police required to eliminate all crime? Are firefighters required to eliminate all fires? Are doctors required to cure all patients? Are lawyers required to win all cases? Are coaches required to win all games? Of course they aren’t.

For no other profession do so many outsiders refuse to accept the realities of an imperfect world. Crime happens. Fire happens. Illness happens. As for lawyers and coaches, where there’s a winner there must also be a loser. People accept all these realities, until they apply to public education.

If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree burns, and then goes to jail; we don’t blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn’t graduate high school, it’s clearly the teacher’s fault.

And if someone – anyone - tries to tell you otherwise; don’t listen. He must be a teacher.

Cat Humor

I Haz a SAD

After my wonderful weekend with all that walking and activity, I got home to a rainy, dreary week until today. Sun, glorious sun!! I've been draggy, sleepy, and worthless all week. Really. I haven't even unpacked.  My cat Brigit loves it when I'm like this, so she can lie around with me.  Now I feel as if I've come back to life. Years ago when I had one, a co-worker insisted that I take the office with all the windows when we moved to another building because she said I had Seasonal Affective Disorder. It pissed me off that she said that, but even then I knew she was probably right. Well, OK. Right. She was right. So now I'm in search of one of those light boxes that helps people get through the winter. I need it. 

The thing is that I felt great last week and got so much done. Then this week - zilch! Now I know and will work on it. For the climate I probably should live in California or somewhere with moderate temps and sunshine.  I'm here though and will probably stay, so a solution is in order. 

I'll catch up on your blogs soon!  Sorry I got behind. 

I Was a Gift

My friend Jackie's husband Ed flew me to Pittsburgh last weekend for Jackie's birthday.  This is the second time I was her birthday present.  When I went before, they lived in Chicago.  Yes, snow both times, of course. It's good to see how snow is handled in places accustomed to it.

Flying is an all-day ordeal now.  I got up at 5:00 am Thursday in order to leave between 7:00 and 7:30 which put me in the work traffic commuting to Nashville.  Since the airport is on the other side of Nashville from me, traffic was heavy at times.  I made it to the long-term parking and found a place to park three spaces from the shuttle stop.  This definitely came in handy when I got back Sunday night in the rain.  I walked miles in three airports on both days!  Why is the connecting flight usually all the way across the terminal? And when will we get to stop taking off our shoes during the security part?  This was my first time to get scanned, too.  It was in Nashville.

Jackie and I spent her birthday Friday lounging around and talking mostly.  It was a snowy day that she'd taken off from work (she teaches computer technology in an elementary school) and felt good to stay inside and catch up.  That night we had dinner at Savoy, an upscale new restaurant.  Link HERE.  It's an interesting place that you might enjoy reading about.  Tyson Beckford was at the table next to us because he was there for a fashion event Savoy hosted.  My back was to him, so Ed changed places with me.  Then I had a great view!

Saturday we went to the Carnegie Museum to see the Madeleine Albright "Read My Pin" exhibit.  That was really interesting.  Then we saw the Teenie Harris photograph exhibit.  He was a photojournalist for the Pittsburgh Courier from 1935-1975.  Here's a link.  Both exhibits were great.

I had a wonderful weekend!  Their house is a turn-of-the-century Craftsman with three floors, high ceilings, big rooms.  The top floor is the guest suite.  Originally it was probably the servant's quarters.  I love that house and feel so relaxed when I'm there.  Jackie and Ed are gracious hosts and wonderful friends.  Good weekend!

Elections

Jackie and I have figured out how elections should be run instead of the marathon it is now.  The entire process should last for six months - campaigning and all.  The dollar people send from tax returns can be doled out to the candidates - $1 million each.  No pacs, no super pacs, no donations, that's it.  TV should give each candidate the same amount of time for ads and cover it under public service announcements or whatever.  The Electoral College is banished, and registered voters have a card used to vote anywhere in the country that they are on election day.  This eliminates absentee ballots.  Arrangements can be made for those unable to get out and vote.  The voting machines are similar to ATM machines, and ID is shown at the election centers before voting.  It's all in a national database.  Polls are open at the same time and adjusted to time zones.  That way the results are announced at the same time nationally. 

What do you think?  

This is Scary

Say What?

Lockheed, manufacturer of the Trident missile, transmits data from its Sunnyvale, California, headquarters to its plant 30 miles away in Santa Cruz via carrier pigeon.

New Outlook

I'm working on a new attitude and trying to be more positive as long as it doesn't affect my attempts at humor.  I will enjoy watching Ricky Gervais host the Golden Globes tomorrow night.  Well, after all, laughter is good for us!  I can manage to believe this as long as I feel good.  So this is a start.