Publik Skule

On my way to the gym this morning, the local station was discussing the financial situation of Flint Public Schools. If you aren't familiar with Flint, MI, let's just say, same as Detroit, but on a smaller scale. So the reporter seemed to be quoting some council member of some sort, a Flint Public School Board member if I had to guess, and read the following: (I've paraphrased)

"Flint will be closing 8 schools at the end of the year. Closing 1/3 of our 35 schools will save us $3.9MM."

Apparently, Flint Public Schools will not be expected to churn out any Mathletes any time soon!

The Economy is SOOOOO bad...

The Economy is Sooooooo Bad That......


CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.

Even people who have nothing to do with the Obama administration aren’t paying their taxes.

Hotwheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.

Obama met with small businesses to discuss the Stimulus Package: GE, Pfeizer and Citigroup.

PETA serves chicken wings at their meetings

McDonalds is selling the 1/4- ouncer.

People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children’s
names.

A truck of Americans got caught sneaking into Mexico ..

The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.

People in Africa are donating money to Americans.

Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, “finish your plate, do you know how many kids are starving in the US ?”

Motel Six wont leave the light on.

The Mafia is laying off judges.

reposted from:
http://blondesense.blogspot.com/

Dear President Obama #60: I fought the law…and the lawyers won

Are you as disgusted with Geithner's reasoning for alowing the AIG bonuses as I am? I am mad as hell. I lost my flippin job because of those a-holes' greed and ambition. And to boot, I get to pay my portion of the bill for their increases!

Anyway, here's an article from Tom Foreman, he's a regular contributor to AC360. He is on a mission to write a letter a day to Pres Obama. This is letter # 60 and it is very poignant.

Check it out:

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/20/dear-president-obama-60-i-fought-the-lawand-the-lawyers-won/

Tetris, anyone?

Pure torture!

http://sovietrussia.org/f/src/tetoris.swf

Chick Lit

I'm not sure if it's my age, my marital status, my employment status or what, but I've really been getting into Chick Lit lately. I am especially fond of UK Chick Lit. Something about a bunch of girls sitting around all day smoking fags, eating biscuits and calling all their old boyfriends WANKERS really appeals to me!

If you read any good chick lit, let me know - I'd appreciate the info. I've got a list of requests in to my library for the Jen Lancaster set. Looking forward to attending her book signing in Birmingham. Check out her website if you get a chance:

http://www.jennsylvania.com/

Welfare Reform?

Read this:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/01/brave-new-welfare

The article is a bit long, but it reveals the ugly other side of the welfare story. I know most people get their feathers up about the whole welfare issue, but after reading this, I'm hoping you may at least see the human side of why these programs exist and understand that when you say nobody in their right mind would want to live like that, you are correct. Most of these people are NOT in their right minds. What we really need is Mental Health reforms. We need to rid the world of the dark taboos attached to mental illness and recognize the assistance that is needed to get these people to a place in their lives where they can function.

I just watched an episode of Cold Case where the victim was a young mom on welfare. She and her daughter had been thrown from a 3rd story window. The little girl died and the mom was in a coma for 2 years. When she awakes, the detectives are finally able to investigate the incident.

Sadly, it turned out the mom was responsible for the accident. She threw herself and her daughter out the window to escape the social worker her threatened to take the child away from the mother because the mother caught him making advances on the little girl.

I was so enraged watching this drama unfold.

Please say a prayer for all of those unfortunate souls whom are lost to the system. May God watch over the children and protect them from the predators that seek to do them harm. Amen.

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie

Nik found this one:

Help Feed the Hungry!

Do you like word games? You can combine your enjoyment of word games with altruism and help a worthy cause...

http://www.freerice.com/

Whoa! The Evolution of Life?

watch this:


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

from:
http://soulpancake.com/

F*** My Life

Today, I was turned down for the China job because I selfishly chose to raise my child with no support from his father or the government and worked my behind off financing really expensive christian education for said child instead of spending the money on finishing my education. My child is graduating this May with a 1.5 GPA. Since I lost my job, I won't be able to pay for his college either. FML

The Old Lady

So, my golden retriever will be 13 in another month (we think, she's a rescue so age is estimated, but we've always used Easter as her "birthday"). We've been very fortunate in that she has not yet lost continence, well, for the most part. I know that this is a common problem with retrievers around this time in their lives. What she DOES have, is a SHART problem.

**WARNING - this may get a little gross**

For those who don't know what a SHART is, it's when you think you're going to cut the cheese, and instead, you pop out a wee little nugget. Yeah, it's gross, but I warned you it would be!

So, anyway, she's getting to the point were she doesn't ask to go out anymore. She just wanders around the house and sighs alot. Then when you get the hint and ask her if she needs to go out, she jumps up and pops out a shart. Like she's been holding it for so long, the exertion causes the incident!

And what's even funnier is the embarrassment she displays subsequent to these "episodes". She looks downright ashamed! This always amuses me. There's this old saying that goes something like "Doggie farts, warms my heart". But that she actually feels bad about doing this really cracks me up.

This runs completely against how humans behave at that age. I mean, there's these old ladies at my gym that are constantly fouling up the air quality around the treadmills, and believe you me, the deep breathing one does while running on the treadmill can be dang near devastating when one of these grannies craps her pants! And what's worse, they actually get offended if you make faces or noises of disgust. One of them "tched" me the other day when I groaned and started waving my towel in an attempt to fan the air!

Boy,I hope I have as much dignity as my Sheila has when I get older. I sure love that old girl!

I <3 chocolate!

reposted from http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/

For those who aren't sure what to do with the internet

http://youshouldhaveseenthis.com/

Weekend at the movies

Well, since losing my job, we have gone low budget on the movies. Lately we've been hitting the 2 for $1 aisles. Last weekend we had an abbreviated John Cusack film fest with a couple of my faves, Serendipity and Say Anything. Nik was impressed with Say Anything, considering it was a 1980's Cameron Crowe.

Both get 3 Rages



I hit a matinee at the show and spied The Reader. I don't recommend this one for any but the bravest World War II/Nazi movie/history buffs. Kate Winslett was intriguing. David Kross's interpretation of his character's' grappling with such intense emotions garners great appreciation. Apparently the book was on Oprah's book list. Shows how out of touch I am!

I give this one 4.5 Rages













Tonight's fare is Out of Africa, a classic love story - and I'm realizing how much my Emily looks like a younger Meryl Streep! It's funny how my Aunt Helen used to think the same thing of me!




What can I say about this film that hasn't already been said? Spectacular, breathtaking, heartbreaking...Nik walked out after 20 minutes...I think his heart is too broken to watch a love story. Poor baby!

Of course, this one gets the full 5 Rages!

40 days, Mar 5 and 6

For Thursday:

Today I am grateful to my Green Task Force members. These folks may get torqued up about the environment and everyone else thinks they are crazy, but without enthusiastic, passionate people like them and others or their kind, the greed mongers would have used up this planet a few decades ago and we'd all be Crackers!

Thanks for your unyielding passionate dedication to keeping it green!

I love you, fellow tree huggers!

For Friday:

Today I am grateful for cable guys that let my dog and cat climb all over them. It's nice to see men being so compassionate to animals. My animals are usually pretty good judges of character, and you, Carlos, are A-OK in my book!

40 Days of Gratitude - Wed, Mar 4

Today I am grateful for my friend Nancy. She is my favorite gym pal. No matter how I feel when I enter the gym, one smile or one word from Nancy and everything is right with the world. Nancy believes in me to such a degree that I'm sure if I called her from jail and said I was caught robbing a bank, she would be convinced I had a good reason behind it! Nancy emigrated from Iraq in the 80s and she has taught me more about what it means to be a citizen of this country than any history or civics class ever could. Thank You, God, for putting my path in line with Nancy's.

40 Days - Tues March 3

Today I am grateful to the little nutter at Panera that ordered the wrong thing for his girlfriend (got Hot Chocolate/was supposed to be Iced Hot Chocolate - how is that possible?) and donated the error to me! Yeah! Thank you, God for kind-hearted, generous people. They help restore my faith in Humanity!

40 Days of Gratitude Part II

I owe you three days. Here are my picks:

Andrew Lobsinger, Andrew Lloyd Webber, the inventor of the iPod.

Here's why:


Andrew Lobsinger - for providing endless hours of entertainment. There was a time when you wouldn't come anywhere near me. Now you feel comfortable enough to "show off your talents". Thank you for being such a lovely little man!

Andrew Lloyd Webber - for providing endless hours of entertainment. Your plays have inspired me, comforted me, humored me. They're like old friends that blow into town occasionally and sweep me off my feet

the inventor of the iPod - for providing endless hours of entertainment. My iPod allows me relative obscurity when I'm in the hot room at the gym. It allows me to check out for a while and just really relax and reconnect.

See you soon!