I heard the head of Gallup say the other day on C-SPAN their presidential poll was similar to others, and then he said they would make adjustments where necessary. His statement was not questioned.
He looked real sheepish admitting it too. Sheepish and nervously swallowing as he appeared highly uncomfortable at being called out and when stating that of course they will look into their methods to see if anything needs to be “tweaked”.
The floor should have opened up and swallowed him. He knows that Gallup manipulated its polls to show PBO in a negative light. I recall earlier in the year that he was wondering why the president was still polling around 47% when “the economy is so bad.” He set out to deliberately lower the president’s ratings in every area by cherry-picking poll participants. He has disgraced Gallup and caused millions, including myself, to question the outfit’s credibility from this point going forward. If he manipulated his polls one time, I believe he’ll do it in the future, whenever he finds it politically expedient to do so.
And especially interesting given the post-election revelations by the Obama campaign that their polling showed a consistent, substantial Obama lead throughout—-Axelrod said it never really changed from the beginning of the campaign until the election
Drew Linzer of VOTAMATIC was the closest to the Obama’s internal pollster. He was better than Nate Silver, who got caught up in the first debate nonsense.
I want to speak out into the universe a:
(((((((((((((((((((((((( Beautiful and Honorable Thank You to All of Our Military Families))))))))))))))))))) for their service and for making such a sacrifice to serve this country and to keep us all safe. HZ
Thank you everyone. Getting ready for my youngest daughter to come home from college this week. Trying to get her room ready. It is the one my dogs like to go to so I keep the door closed. They shed and sweeping and dusting another room everyday instead of once a week is a little too much. Her dad got tickets for the opening of “Les Mis” on Christmas day for them. My ESPN husband has been watching on PBS when it is on. He is trying to get the story straight so he looks a little smarter for their post movie discussions. It cracks me up every time I see him change from ESPN to PBS.
I know how you feel. I’m preparing for my mother to visit this week until after the New Year. A little embarrassed to tell anyone, but I’m excited about spending a lot of the holiday season with her. The best part is I got her to stop watching Fox News and hooked on my shows the last time she visited so Ill have someone else to watch Stephanie Miller & MSNBC with me.
That is so cute! There’s an online edition of the 2.5 hour play on youtube, and I keep meaning to watch it before the Christmas Day debut. I cannot wait to watch this movie, and I spent several hours this weekend listening to Lea Salonga (and others) singing sections of the key musical pieces at various anniversary performances. Your husband sounds adorable in his efforts!
I have seen that and loved it so many times. I cry every time I see my same state citizen Trayvon Martins face. Yes, my husband is a Republican that has voted twice for a Democratic candidate….both times for PBO.
Sane people of any political persuasion tend to gravitate towards PBO – even if they don’t agree with him on every single issue. Bravo to your husband!
Letting out a huge groan here, Linda, because I have to get my daughter’s room ready for her Christmas visit. I’ve been putting it off, but I MUST get started on it soon. I’ve been keeping the door to her room closed, too, to keep Winston, my chihuahua, out. He’ll go into her room and bring her things into other parts of the house, so keeping the door closed is the only way to keep him out.
I’m a longtime Trekkie, CEB. I watched the trailer the other day. I can hardly wait for the movie to come out! I think I was enthralled by Star Trek before most of my friends even knew what ST was. If space travel for the average citizen were a reality, I’d buy a ticket for a space cruise.
I was a young teen when the series first aired on TV. I have followed every incarnation and spin-off from that time to this. I grew up breathlessly watching everything related to the early Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions and kept scrapbooks. For 28 years I have taught at a high school that was named for an Apollo astronaut. Like our PBO, I have been enthralled with space adventures, real and imagined for most of my life.
Evening all! Good positioning, PMGZ! Did you guys leave me any cake, or did you not even notice I hadn’t had a piece yet? Or, more to the point I guess, did Ms Chips provide a variety of cake?
Vc I’m afraid that the cake is all gone. Dudette just polished off the last scrap. I was down on bended knee pleading with her to save you a morsel, but to no avail. 😦
Unh, unh… OH NO! My name is Bennett, I ain’t in it! Don’t even try it hf! Wasn’t me? Must’ve been YOU, since you’re so quick to pass the blame off on someone else. I’m telling Mama Chips when she comes back! [giving my hardest side-eye glare!]
I was just about to ask what kind it was and if there’s any left. Had my mouth all watering for something with chocolate or red velvet or both. Guess I’ll have go scrounge for my own. Hmmph!
Dudette, eh? Sigh. Maybe if I had not stopped on the way home and been a wee bit faster I’d have caught her at it. Thank YOU, Hopef; it’s encouraging to know that I do have a friend or two here who will bend a knee for me. How’s the knee, you didn’t scrape it or anything, did you?
CONSPIRACY!!! FRAME!!! I’ve been falsely accused! I did not eat that cake. I have no cake residue on my. I want a full investigation. This is a travesty, I tell you! I’m INNOCENT! It wasn’t meeeeeeeeee! Arrrgh!
LOL! my memory is clearer now…I think it was amk who confiscated the last slice on the tray. It was a BIG slice too. I went down on bended knee pleading with amk to save a morsel for you and vc, but to no avail!
{{{Dudette}}} Don’t worry about it, friend. I believe you. I shouldn’t be eating cake anyway. ( I only asked since it was Pamela’s special day and I was willing to make the sacrifice and have a slice in her honour.) I really should be trying to lose some weight in order to fit into my Inauguration ball finery, and cake isn’t going to help given the time I have left. Plus, it was probably chocolate cake. :roll:.
Hopefruit, much as I like the thought of someone looking out for me, I don’t think you should go down on your knees so readily because a) it compromises your vision and b) you might not be able to get back up. I wouldn’t want to feel guilty if the latter happens. Also a curious thought has come to me, just for the record, are you sure the big slice of cake YOU had wasn’t actually the last slice?
Phew! Thank you for recanting your story, hopefruit. What a relief! Wasn’t sure I’d have enough $$$ to retain an attorney. 🙂
[just a hint of the side-eye remains cuz my feelings are still sore]
This kinda caper sounds like amk’s m.o., but I’ll wait until there’s evidence presented before I point the finger. I know what it’s like now to be in that awful awful position. Can’t we all just get along?
Ha! You are INCORRECT sir! She looks NOTHING like me. Where’s my the gap between my two front teeth? Where’s my Star Trek tatoo? Everyone knows I don’t wear pierced earrings and I certainly would’ve used a fork instead of diving in face-first. I’m a LADY!
So, Amk, you cleaned up at the partay without a thought for your former best bud? Well, it’s good to know a good time was had by you all.
BTW, while trying to catch up I notice that you decide to stay home, after all, to distract young AMK by your very presence. Well, I’m sorry on his behalf. 😉
My knee is quite fine thanks vc. …I think I was mistaken about dudette. I now believe that amk took the last scrap before going to bed. If not amk then who? dotster? Yardarm? Jovie? Bill? theo? Jacqueline? 🙂 🙂 Sigh…it’s anyone’s guess now. But alas, the cake is gone!
Sweeping intel report sounds alarm on climate threats
By Ben Geman
A new U.S. intelligence community report finds that climate change will fuel new conflicts and competition for resources in coming decades.
The federal National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2030” report issued Monday follows Defense Department analyses that have similarly called climate change an emerging security risk.
“Demand for food, water, and energy will grow by approximately 35, 40, and 50 percent respectively owing to an increase in the global population and the consumption patterns of an expanding middle class. Climate change will worsen the outlook for the availability of these critical resources,” the report states.
The Department of Defense did a report a few years ago that reached the same conclusions, jovie. GWB knew climate change was real, but he suppressed his own endangerment finding to satisfy GOPers in Congress and energy company executives. What I don’t understand about republicans in Congress is that they say they trust our military leaders, yet, they ignore something as serious as the effects of climate change when our military leaders tell them about. The only conclusion I’ve reached about this is that the loyalty of congress members like Inholfe to the energy companies is greater than his loyalty to our environment, and us. If republican members of Congress were rational and brave, they’d tell Inhofe to sit his butt down and stop embarrassing them, but this is hard to do when you also depend on energy companies to fund your political campaigns. I was appalled that republicans in the House unveiled a desire to stop the Pentagon from using/developing alternative energy resources. I hope that the last presidential campaign made more Americans aware of just how much the republicans are willing to place money and profits over everything else, even the lives of future generations, by refusing to address climate change.
‘The only conclusion I’ve reached about this is that the loyalty of congress members like Inholfe to the energy companies is greater than his loyalty to our environment, and us’
IMO GOP congress members have NO loyalty to voters or to environment, so there’s really no comparison. Their personal bottom line is always what guides them, or so it seems looking on from the sidelines.
This is a big problem. Trib investigation reveals an astonishing 32,000 Chgo K-8 students miss 4 weeks or more of school in a calendar year. The Chgo Public School head and Illinois lawmakers have vowed to try to remedy this disgrace. These are elementary school kids! I would think it would be one of the premiere responsibilities of being a parent is to make sure your kids get to school. I remember trying to get out of going a couple of times—-“I don’t feel so good”—–and my mom, a former teacher, would always say, “Get up, eat your breakfast, you’ll feel better, you’re going to school.” And I don’t think I missed more than a handful of days thru high school. Missing was not an option. Same with my daughters. Hopefully they will come up with some corrective measures, but parents bear the main responsibility in school attendance, in my opinion. It’s so vital. It’s the whole deal.
I’m a retired teacher, dotster, and we had the same problem with some of our high school students. I had a student who came to school when he wanted to come. The BOE took his mom to court, and all she could say was, “I can’t make him go to school!” It turns out the a5 year old kid was running the household instead of the mother. As soon as he turned 16, he dropped out of school. I could have never done that. If we were really sick, and my mom allowed us to miss a day of school, we had to stay in the house for that day. We weren’t allowed to be playing in the yard or running around the neighborhood. The hard rule in our house was that we had to go to school, and we had to graduate from high school, all six of us kids. My mom ran the house a majority of the time, and even though my dad was always working, he backed my mom up on this rule. I can’t fathom the idea that an elementary school kid would be allowed to miss so many days of school. Here in GA, the legislature made parents legally responsible for making their kids go to school a few years ago, but this law only works if local BOEs enforce it, and the BOE did enforce it in the county where I worked.
If our kids miss too many days, the truant officer gets involved and the parents could end up in court. It happens rarely at the elementary level in my district, but it does happen.
And the numbers are so astronomical—–32,000 kids! At a huge disadvantage for life. And we see some of the effects of that in Chicago now. It’s senseless.
Don’t be so hard on folks if you don’t know all the circumstances. Not everyone comes from “great” families. I remember when my folks broke up and there was no money, no govt breakfast or lunchs in the 60’s in California. I remember going from one home to another because we had no where to go. We were “homeless” before the word was invented. It wasn’t because my Mom couldn’t send us to school or we didn’t want to….we had NO MONEY and NO WAY to get there. I remeber we stayed with a family friend during this time and we had to get up at 5PM to catch a bus to get to school by 9 am. We were just in elementary school. I missed a lot of school between 4th and 5th grade. Thanks to a very caring teacher who gave me extra time after school to get caught up so that I could enter the 6th grade and graduate with my class.
Thank you for sharing that, and I’m so glad to hear about your teacher’s help, when you needed it. So many teachers act like yours did and I know a few of ’em who’ve helped more than one student!
Who are your heroes in real life?
“I really love Barack Obama. Sorry if that’s like “Ew. The president. That’s lame.” I love Barack Obama. What a great man. I’m so lucky to have voted for that guy.”
That’s so sweet. Louis C.K. is such a wicked cool comic and this questionnaire just made me love him even more. His answers are out there but refreshingly honest. You gotta love someone who doesn’t give a shit and just tells it straight.
What is it that you most dislike?
Really? After all that? After all those specific questions? You’re just gonna ask that? You seriously need to do some editing someday.
What is your motto?
Never, ever, ever again agree to do anything for any magazine ever.
very nice! I hope the people who claim to be ‘strongly religous” yet spend all their waking (and probably sleeping time) being so hateful of PBO get to see this. It will make their heads explode.
Is there a way to twitt this to those angry “religious” broadcasters and members of the rightwing PBO-Hate-Machine?
Did I make it?
Yes, you most certainly did. Congratulations!
Proud of you proud!
Hi Proud! Congrats, you made it Big Time! 🙂
Congrats proud.
It’s a good day to be 4th!
Romney’s 47% comment. In my opinion, it should have been “Please Proceed, Governor.” That was just full of WIN.
I agree with you. And a lot of people agreed with us. However, I felt that they (media) would never grant that to PBO.
After the horrible polling data Gallup provided during the election, I don’t trust ’em!!
They almost always skew in favor of the right – which means that this number is probably even smaller than what they report.
I heard the head of Gallup say the other day on C-SPAN their presidential poll was similar to others, and then he said they would make adjustments where necessary. His statement was not questioned.
He looked real sheepish admitting it too. Sheepish and nervously swallowing as he appeared highly uncomfortable at being called out and when stating that of course they will look into their methods to see if anything needs to be “tweaked”.
At that point I wanted to throw something through my teevee.
Tweaked, uh? Gallup-right up there with Fix News. They can’t be trusted.
The floor should have opened up and swallowed him. He knows that Gallup manipulated its polls to show PBO in a negative light. I recall earlier in the year that he was wondering why the president was still polling around 47% when “the economy is so bad.” He set out to deliberately lower the president’s ratings in every area by cherry-picking poll participants. He has disgraced Gallup and caused millions, including myself, to question the outfit’s credibility from this point going forward. If he manipulated his polls one time, I believe he’ll do it in the future, whenever he finds it politically expedient to do so.
And especially interesting given the post-election revelations by the Obama campaign that their polling showed a consistent, substantial Obama lead throughout—-Axelrod said it never really changed from the beginning of the campaign until the election
Drew Linzer of VOTAMATIC was the closest to the Obama’s internal pollster. He was better than Nate Silver, who got caught up in the first debate nonsense.
http://votamatic.org/
‘ouch’? where did they scrape up even 26 people, let alone 26%.
Congrats Proudmember! And thanks Chips!
I want to speak out into the universe a:
(((((((((((((((((((((((( Beautiful and Honorable Thank You to All of Our Military Families))))))))))))))))))) for their service and for making such a sacrifice to serve this country and to keep us all safe. HZ
Amen HZ!!!
Amen, amen and amen!
Adding a pretty for your viewing pleasure
Just breathtakingly gorgeous! Thanks dotster for sharing.
beautiful, and not for the likes of myth and miss ann.
More scientists honor the President by naming a species after him – this one’s a recently discovered ancient extinct one though
Cute! 🙂
This is nice.
Kinda neat that it’s the blue one in the artist’s rendition. 🙂
……about to have “the boner & cantor lizards” for lunch…..as usual.
I like the trend of your thought!!
Neat! Scientists honor a POTUS who believes in and advocates for science as critical for progress
Yep! Nerds rule!
Thank you everyone. Getting ready for my youngest daughter to come home from college this week. Trying to get her room ready. It is the one my dogs like to go to so I keep the door closed. They shed and sweeping and dusting another room everyday instead of once a week is a little too much. Her dad got tickets for the opening of “Les Mis” on Christmas day for them. My ESPN husband has been watching on PBS when it is on. He is trying to get the story straight so he looks a little smarter for their post movie discussions. It cracks me up every time I see him change from ESPN to PBS.
THIS is love for a child. So cute that he would do this.
I know how you feel. I’m preparing for my mother to visit this week until after the New Year. A little embarrassed to tell anyone, but I’m excited about spending a lot of the holiday season with her. The best part is I got her to stop watching Fox News and hooked on my shows the last time she visited so Ill have someone else to watch Stephanie Miller & MSNBC with me.
That is so cute! There’s an online edition of the 2.5 hour play on youtube, and I keep meaning to watch it before the Christmas Day debut. I cannot wait to watch this movie, and I spent several hours this weekend listening to Lea Salonga (and others) singing sections of the key musical pieces at various anniversary performances. Your husband sounds adorable in his efforts!
Send him a link to the One Term More parody video. That’s gotta be worth extra credit. 🙂
http://www.onetermmore.com/video.html
I have seen that and loved it so many times. I cry every time I see my same state citizen Trayvon Martins face. Yes, my husband is a Republican that has voted twice for a Democratic candidate….both times for PBO.
Good for hubby! Give him a hug for me!
Sane people of any political persuasion tend to gravitate towards PBO – even if they don’t agree with him on every single issue. Bravo to your husband!
Letting out a huge groan here, Linda, because I have to get my daughter’s room ready for her Christmas visit. I’ve been putting it off, but I MUST get started on it soon. I’ve been keeping the door to her room closed, too, to keep Winston, my chihuahua, out. He’ll go into her room and bring her things into other parts of the house, so keeping the door closed is the only way to keep him out.
Attention TOD Star Trek Geeks (of which I am a proud member):
The cool trailer for the new Star Trek 2, Into the Darkness, is available on-line. The movie will be released in May 2013.
Another movie that I’m keen to see when it comes out. Lovely!
And Superman 2-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/07/21/man-of-steel-trailer-superman_n_1692161.html
Cool!
I saw the trailer for Iron Man 3 tonight (coming out in May) – looks amazing!
Woooooot! Saw it! It’s AWESOME!!! 😀 😀 😀
OMFG. I can’t wait. This is going to be EPIC. I remember how entranced I was by the first Star Trek movie J.J. Abrams directed. He’s genius!
I’m a longtime Trekkie, CEB. I watched the trailer the other day. I can hardly wait for the movie to come out! I think I was enthralled by Star Trek before most of my friends even knew what ST was. If space travel for the average citizen were a reality, I’d buy a ticket for a space cruise.
I’d be sitting right beside yuo majiir!
I was a young teen when the series first aired on TV. I have followed every incarnation and spin-off from that time to this. I grew up breathlessly watching everything related to the early Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions and kept scrapbooks. For 28 years I have taught at a high school that was named for an Apollo astronaut. Like our PBO, I have been enthralled with space adventures, real and imagined for most of my life.
John Boehner Has No Mandate
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171695/john-boehner-has-no-mandate#
There’s a lot of other things that John Boehner does not have, but it’s the holiday season, so I won’t mention ’em.
😀
Nasty! 😆
Hey, it’s Boehner. What other response is there? 🙂 🙂
True. 😀
But but but did the Obama Lizard survive the Chicxulub Asteroid in the Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago and…
John McCain wants answers.
McCain is begging leadership fir a Jurassic Committee spot.
Aha, you’ve heard of emoprogs? Well meet our first “emo-frog” whining about how well Obama-lizard can survive the coming onslaught. 🙂
An American tragedy.
Hello guys check out this cute video of todler walking his dog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mIyfqIvyo4
Love it. I liked the way he carefully placed the leash on the ground.
yes, he is an old soul.
I think you’re right. So mature for such a young one. Still he made time to have a little fun!
Love how cool the dog was about the whole thing too. 🙂
I absolutely loved that too. Couldn’t be any more precious.
So adorable!!!!! Thanks for sharing. Just sent it to my granddaughter, since it reminds me of her toddler so much.
that was adorable 🙂
LOL!
Perfect! I’m sure they missed something in the “causes” lineup, but, nevertheless, it was great.
Perfect. Thanks, Dudette
Evening all! Good positioning, PMGZ! Did you guys leave me any cake, or did you not even notice I hadn’t had a piece yet? Or, more to the point I guess, did Ms Chips provide a variety of cake?
Vc I’m afraid that the cake is all gone. Dudette just polished off the last scrap. I was down on bended knee pleading with her to save you a morsel, but to no avail. 😦
Unh, unh… OH NO! My name is Bennett, I ain’t in it! Don’t even try it hf! Wasn’t me? Must’ve been YOU, since you’re so quick to pass the blame off on someone else. I’m telling Mama Chips when she comes back! [giving my hardest side-eye glare!]
I was just about to ask what kind it was and if there’s any left. Had my mouth all watering for something with chocolate or red velvet or both. Guess I’ll have go scrounge for my own. Hmmph!
Dudette, eh? Sigh. Maybe if I had not stopped on the way home and been a wee bit faster I’d have caught her at it. Thank YOU, Hopef; it’s encouraging to know that I do have a friend or two here who will bend a knee for me. How’s the knee, you didn’t scrape it or anything, did you?
CONSPIRACY!!! FRAME!!! I’ve been falsely accused! I did not eat that cake. I have no cake residue on my. I want a full investigation. This is a travesty, I tell you! I’m INNOCENT! It wasn’t meeeeeeeeee! Arrrgh!
…No cake residue on my person or my belongings. I’m not going down for something I didn’t do. Won’t someone vouch for me?
LOL! my memory is clearer now…I think it was amk who confiscated the last slice on the tray. It was a BIG slice too. I went down on bended knee pleading with amk to save a morsel for you and vc, but to no avail!
{{{Dudette}}} Don’t worry about it, friend. I believe you. I shouldn’t be eating cake anyway. ( I only asked since it was Pamela’s special day and I was willing to make the sacrifice and have a slice in her honour.) I really should be trying to lose some weight in order to fit into my Inauguration ball finery, and cake isn’t going to help given the time I have left. Plus, it was probably chocolate cake. :roll:.
Hopefruit, much as I like the thought of someone looking out for me, I don’t think you should go down on your knees so readily because a) it compromises your vision and b) you might not be able to get back up. I wouldn’t want to feel guilty if the latter happens. Also a curious thought has come to me, just for the record, are you sure the big slice of cake YOU had wasn’t actually the last slice?
Thank you vc! You are a fount of wisdom! I salute you! 🙂
Phew! Thank you for recanting your story, hopefruit. What a relief! Wasn’t sure I’d have enough $$$ to retain an attorney. 🙂
[just a hint of the side-eye remains cuz my feelings are still sore]
This kinda caper sounds like amk’s m.o., but I’ll wait until there’s evidence presented before I point the finger. I know what it’s like now to be in that awful awful position. Can’t we all just get along?
LOL! 🙂 Someone’s eating lord, Kumbaya.
😀 😀 😀
Here’s the evidence of dudette doing it. Me? I just drank the last beer in Pamela’s partay.
Ha! You are INCORRECT sir! She looks NOTHING like me. Where’s my the gap between my two front teeth? Where’s my Star Trek tatoo? Everyone knows I don’t wear pierced earrings and I certainly would’ve used a fork instead of diving in face-first. I’m a LADY!
FAIL!!!
You doth protesteth too much. GUILTY.
So, Amk, you cleaned up at the partay without a thought for your former best bud? Well, it’s good to know a good time was had by you all.
BTW, while trying to catch up I notice that you decide to stay home, after all, to distract young AMK by your very presence. Well, I’m sorry on his behalf. 😉
The trip got cancelled after I did a on-line checkin. Kid has gone back to the hostel about an hour ago. So he is safe.
I thought you didn’t want the last beer. So I took it.
You could at least have given me the chance to use my company manners and say ‘no thank you’. 🙄
My knee is quite fine thanks vc. …I think I was mistaken about dudette. I now believe that amk took the last scrap before going to bed. If not amk then who? dotster? Yardarm? Jovie? Bill? theo? Jacqueline? 🙂 🙂 Sigh…it’s anyone’s guess now. But alas, the cake is gone!
Thank goodness there’s more than one Jacqueline on TOD. I was feeling “guilty” for no good reason.
Sweeping intel report sounds alarm on climate threats
By Ben Geman
A new U.S. intelligence community report finds that climate change will fuel new conflicts and competition for resources in coming decades.
The federal National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2030” report issued Monday follows Defense Department analyses that have similarly called climate change an emerging security risk.
“Demand for food, water, and energy will grow by approximately 35, 40, and 50 percent respectively owing to an increase in the global population and the consumption patterns of an expanding middle class. Climate change will worsen the outlook for the availability of these critical resources,” the report states.
Thank you James Inhofe!
The Department of Defense did a report a few years ago that reached the same conclusions, jovie. GWB knew climate change was real, but he suppressed his own endangerment finding to satisfy GOPers in Congress and energy company executives. What I don’t understand about republicans in Congress is that they say they trust our military leaders, yet, they ignore something as serious as the effects of climate change when our military leaders tell them about. The only conclusion I’ve reached about this is that the loyalty of congress members like Inholfe to the energy companies is greater than his loyalty to our environment, and us. If republican members of Congress were rational and brave, they’d tell Inhofe to sit his butt down and stop embarrassing them, but this is hard to do when you also depend on energy companies to fund your political campaigns. I was appalled that republicans in the House unveiled a desire to stop the Pentagon from using/developing alternative energy resources. I hope that the last presidential campaign made more Americans aware of just how much the republicans are willing to place money and profits over everything else, even the lives of future generations, by refusing to address climate change.
‘The only conclusion I’ve reached about this is that the loyalty of congress members like Inholfe to the energy companies is greater than his loyalty to our environment, and us’
IMO GOP congress members have NO loyalty to voters or to environment, so there’s really no comparison. Their personal bottom line is always what guides them, or so it seems looking on from the sidelines.
This is a big problem. Trib investigation reveals an astonishing 32,000 Chgo K-8 students miss 4 weeks or more of school in a calendar year. The Chgo Public School head and Illinois lawmakers have vowed to try to remedy this disgrace. These are elementary school kids! I would think it would be one of the premiere responsibilities of being a parent is to make sure your kids get to school. I remember trying to get out of going a couple of times—-“I don’t feel so good”—–and my mom, a former teacher, would always say, “Get up, eat your breakfast, you’ll feel better, you’re going to school.” And I don’t think I missed more than a handful of days thru high school. Missing was not an option. Same with my daughters. Hopefully they will come up with some corrective measures, but parents bear the main responsibility in school attendance, in my opinion. It’s so vital. It’s the whole deal.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/truancy/chi-cps-head-lawmaker-vow-to-work-on-truancy-after-tribune-series-20121210,0,222337.story
I’m a retired teacher, dotster, and we had the same problem with some of our high school students. I had a student who came to school when he wanted to come. The BOE took his mom to court, and all she could say was, “I can’t make him go to school!” It turns out the a5 year old kid was running the household instead of the mother. As soon as he turned 16, he dropped out of school. I could have never done that. If we were really sick, and my mom allowed us to miss a day of school, we had to stay in the house for that day. We weren’t allowed to be playing in the yard or running around the neighborhood. The hard rule in our house was that we had to go to school, and we had to graduate from high school, all six of us kids. My mom ran the house a majority of the time, and even though my dad was always working, he backed my mom up on this rule. I can’t fathom the idea that an elementary school kid would be allowed to miss so many days of school. Here in GA, the legislature made parents legally responsible for making their kids go to school a few years ago, but this law only works if local BOEs enforce it, and the BOE did enforce it in the county where I worked.
Meant to type “15 year old kid”
If our kids miss too many days, the truant officer gets involved and the parents could end up in court. It happens rarely at the elementary level in my district, but it does happen.
And the numbers are so astronomical—–32,000 kids! At a huge disadvantage for life. And we see some of the effects of that in Chicago now. It’s senseless.
Don’t be so hard on folks if you don’t know all the circumstances. Not everyone comes from “great” families. I remember when my folks broke up and there was no money, no govt breakfast or lunchs in the 60’s in California. I remember going from one home to another because we had no where to go. We were “homeless” before the word was invented. It wasn’t because my Mom couldn’t send us to school or we didn’t want to….we had NO MONEY and NO WAY to get there. I remeber we stayed with a family friend during this time and we had to get up at 5PM to catch a bus to get to school by 9 am. We were just in elementary school. I missed a lot of school between 4th and 5th grade. Thanks to a very caring teacher who gave me extra time after school to get caught up so that I could enter the 6th grade and graduate with my class.
Thank you for sharing that, and I’m so glad to hear about your teacher’s help, when you needed it. So many teachers act like yours did and I know a few of ’em who’ve helped more than one student!
My momo was the law and she believed in child abuse…….Hers!
From the normally cynical Louis C.K:
Who are your heroes in real life?
“I really love Barack Obama. Sorry if that’s like “Ew. The president. That’s lame.” I love Barack Obama. What a great man. I’m so lucky to have voted for that guy.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/01/louis-ck-proust-questionnaire
That’s so sweet. Louis C.K. is such a wicked cool comic and this questionnaire just made me love him even more. His answers are out there but refreshingly honest. You gotta love someone who doesn’t give a shit and just tells it straight.
p.s. He also likes F. Scott Fitzgerald. Whooooooot!
What is it that you most dislike?
Really? After all that? After all those specific questions? You’re just gonna ask that? You seriously need to do some editing someday.
What is your motto?
Never, ever, ever again agree to do anything for any magazine ever.
🙂
Mrs. Obama’s Fault! 🙂
Yeah, Proceed, Governor. Saw youse guys at the fight and y’all looked awful. BBL after I find more salt to pour in your wounds.
(Too much?)
Hahaha! Don’t know when or where this was taken but it’s FABULOUS!!
This was during the 08 campaign.
You Rock, ut!
……correction: if you are born poor, die immediatey or try to stay a fetus as long as possible if you want our help!
Word!
Sad it’s needed, but thank you, Colin Powell.
This guest (David Johnson) on the Ed Show is a cowardly charlatan. That is all.
I turned it off, once he started babbling. Some of these people are just one-note-wonders but they keep talking. Give ’em enough rope, etc.
Link to PBO’s video from his visit to MI today
http://www.c-span.org/Events/President-Obama-Urges-Support-for-His-Tax-Plan/10737436438-1/
Justice Sonia Sotomayor has a memoir coming out in January and she’ll be sitting down for a 60 Minutes interview:
http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-sotomayor-book-offers-personal-look-212042839–politics.html
Great find, meta! I’m looking forward to that!
Yeah, she’s an interesting person that I’d like to know more about.
Thank you. Oh, I’m reading from the bottom up, and I thought you meant me for a minute there. (Ha!)
🙂
Yeah! You, too! You’re definitely an interesting person!!
Yeah! Your heart was in that all right! Ha!
xoxo!!
Believing this is true.
I totally believe that. Makes me happy he’s protected.
very nice! I hope the people who claim to be ‘strongly religous” yet spend all their waking (and probably sleeping time) being so hateful of PBO get to see this. It will make their heads explode.
Is there a way to twitt this to those angry “religious” broadcasters and members of the rightwing PBO-Hate-Machine?
Ya’ll don’t know your scriptures. Jesus didn’t have blonde hair. As a matter of fact, nobody in that region did.
How beautiful, mary!!!!! This is soooooo true.
And now for tonight’s other random moment of cuteness:
https://twitter.com/dumbGOP/status/278318950796906497
Glad they’re doing this. Nothing worse than tainted meat! 🙂
https://twitter.com/Creoleleo/status/278311595648622593
#FORWARD
New (short) post!
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/12/10/its-beginning-to-feel-a-lot-like-christmas/