Wisdom of our (founding) fathers
Sun Jun 18, 2006 at 07:40:29 AM PDT
This being Father's Day, I thought it might be fun to search for examples of the wisdom of our
Founding Fathers and share some of the quotes here. As to my method, I have found all these quotes on the internet, so I know they must indeed be actual transcriptions of what each one said and accurately attributed to boot. After all, as I said, I found them on the internet. ;-) (Caveat emptor!)
That said, I frequently wonder what Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison and George Washington would think about what is going on in our country today.
National PTA action alert re House vote on budget
Thu Apr 06, 2006 at 10:54:54 AM PDT
As an FYI -- I just received an email action alert (also on the
National PTA website) from the National PTA informing its members that the House of Representatives will vote tomorrow morning (Friday April 7) on the federal budget for 2007. It asks them to call their representatives toll free at 1-800-459-1887 to urge them to vote "no," because it "severely underfunds discretionary spending for essential education and health services for children and poor and working-class families in communities nationwide."
Dr. King -- Prophet
Tue Apr 04, 2006 at 06:29:58 AM PDT
In honor of the 38th anniversary today of the death of Martin Kuther King, Jr., I went to the net to find the text of his famous speech in Memphis -- you know, the "I may not get there with you" speech. What I found first was
a speech he made earlier that spring, when he addressed the strikers on March 18. Some of what I read there made me wonder just how far ahead Dr. King was seeing that spring.
Rangel et al. hold SS town hall meeting yesterday
Sun Jun 26, 2005 at 11:28:14 AM PDT
Yesterday I attended a town hall meeting at a local senior center. Social Security was the topic of the meeting, which was hosted by my new congressman
Brian Higgins (D-NY 27). His guests were congressman
Charles Rangel (NY-15) and Barbara Kennelly, former member of Congress and current president & CEO of the
National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare .
Approximately 125 people, most senior citizens, turned out for the meeting despite the fact that it was a beautiful warm, sunny Saturday morning here in Western New York (and we don't get too many of those.) We heard a very informative presentation about the so-called Social Security "crisis," what a truly bipartisan approach to the challenge will look like, and why we need to stay vigilant.
Those of you who have been following the Social Security issue closely may not find anything new here, but I think it was a good overall briefing on the issues for those of us who were there. If you're interested, more details follow.
Pie fight ad/media literacy
Tue Jun 07, 2005 at 12:20:58 PM PDT
I have been reading about what I think of as the media literacy "movement" for several years now. (It's how I got to Daily Kos in the first place. A recommendation on a media literacy listserve recommended Eric Alterman's blog, and from there I followed the link to dKos.) According to the
Center for Media Literacy:
Media Literacy ... provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms -- from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.
I'd love to see someone formally deconstruct some of the Republican/Christian right/anti-social security/pro-war messages but haven't jumped in myself because my only background is that of having paid close attention for a while. But the discussion of this past weekend has emboldened me to try my hand, using the(original) "pie fight" ad as my test run, with the caveat that I've only seen the copy that comes up on dKos - haven't clicked through. (Heaven help me, here goes):
Are you a Head Start Success Story?
Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 06:41:17 AM PDT
Or are you the parent of a successful former Head Start student? If so, The National Head Start Association wants to hear your story. On March 30 they launched a
new website called I Got a Head Start.org.
NHSA president Sarah Greene summarized the purpose of the new website as follows:
Our goal is to give a voice to what until now has been a silent powerhouse of the 20 million former students - and millions more parent volunteers - blessed by the experience of going through Head Start. Even as Head Start celebrates its 40th anniversary today, it faces challenges. Our success stories are spread across every strata of American life and they are in unique positions to make the case for Head Start. So, we are encouraging all Head Start graduates, volunteer parents and other concerned citizens to step forward, tell their stories and get involved to ensure that this vital program is still able to transform the lives of future children who otherwise would lose out on the hopes, dreams and opportunities that we can help to open up for them.
National PTA issues alert on Bush Budget
Tue Mar 08, 2005 at 07:56:59 AM PDT
The National PTA has issued the following
action alert on the proposed Bush Budget. Sent yesterday to the PTA's extensive email list, the alert calls on the organization's members to contact their senators and representatives today to tell them "that we need a budget that invests in America's children and to oppose any budget that cuts programs that help children and families."
Founded in 1897 as the National Congress of Mothers, the National PTA is the oldest and largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the country.
More text from the alert after the break.
