Did I Say That Out Loud

Since when did needing temporary help to feed your children make you less worthy of protection under the law.   Well Missouri lawmakers have recently passed legislation requiring people that receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, to take random drug tests to stay on the “roll.” Republican lawmakers across the country are lobbying to enact similar laws.   I believe the Constitution says a little something about Americans being protected against unlawful search and seizure.   http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_953196cf-8104-5758-8198-60e151debe90.html Republicans continually insist they are the party of smaller government, but here again we have another crystal clear example of Republicans helping to create a cottage industry of privately-operated drug labs for welfare families.   The details of how the law will work is further proof that this is just a way to help republican business “friends” make money. The cost...

As the parent of a precocious two-year-old, public school education has never meant so much to me as it does now.  I was blessed to have had parents with the means, and the wherewithal, to send me to a private, all-girl, college Prep school called Notre Dame de Sion.  When you say it put some French on it!  Now my little one is participating in public education.  But at this rate she won't be for long because I cannot afford to fail her by sending her through public school. This week the Hickman Mills School Board voted to cut the Parents As Teacher Program (PAT) budget by 50 percent http://www.kctv5.com/education/27528532/detail.html .  PAT works with parents to teach them how to teach their children from birth to kindergarten. http://www.parentsasteachers.org/about/what-we-do   They aren't building weapons of mass destruction, they are educating OUR children who might otherwise not have access to one-on-one tutoring.  They work with spec...

I have a confession to make---I really don't like Facebook or the chatter that goes on in that vortex, and I don't really get the appeal.  Millions of people on Facebook, a movie, and I'm sure a book will be forthcoming, but what is the BFD.  Yes, I'm on Facebook, but never ever check my account anymore.  I figure if someone said something days ago, it CAN'T be relevant anymore. I think all conversations should be limited to Twitter's 140 characters, or less.  In person, on the phone, at the office, in the classroom, all communication.  I shouldn't have to use more than 140 characters to get my 2-year old to behave properly, or sit on the potty.  Unfortunately, I cannot convince my dearest besties of the point of Twitter .  They just don't get it.  They fail to see the blast that one can have just reading the limited rantings of their favorite NFL player, or the musings of a mother clear across the globe about how potty training ...

The name Peter Connelly is a name I never want to ever forget.  I never wish to forget his beautiful, angelic face with shining blue eyes beaming out into the world.  The day I learned of his story it leapt out to me from YouTube.  I cried for hours following his visit.  and his extistence was never relevant until the end.  At the end many people stood in awe of how things could go so terribly wrong while we went about living our lives

The reason black people could care less about the latest Tiger Woods Scandal, one word: Cabalasian. This is the clever amalgam he made up to describe his Caucasian, Asian, and African-American heritage. At the time he said it I was aghast. He had done what no other competitor in the sport of golf had ever done, black, blue or white. He conquered the greens and beat the ‘man’ at his beloved and sacred, exclusionary sport. The field had been leveled and the landscaper was black. With Woods' declaration he crushed all that. He made it clear he was not black, but brown. I immediately became as dispassionate on his success as he was about his African-American legacy. As he is dogged by the rabid American media, I still could care less. The lack of public support by black people for Woods is clear that I am not alone. He is paying the price of his fame, the way he made it. He took the money, kept quiet when he could have spoken out against injustices that impact black people everywher...

Many of my well wishing friends and family who rushed to send messages at the stroke of midnight will be shocked to hear me say this, but I don't like the "Happy New Year" greetings, and salutations. Even more, I detest the amount of time it's used into the New Year; a day, two weeks, the whole of January? It is just another day, a new day, if you insist, but just another day on the calendar. This year let’s dispense with the greetings and get truly serious about starting anew. This New Year let’s not make the mistake of focusing on what’s on the outside of ourselves, but rather what could be happening on the inside. We American’s are killing ourselves to be beautiful by any means necessary. In the old year, we witnessed the public death of Brittany Murphy . Here was a woman living in LA LA Land who had became so concerned about her external appearance that she starved herself to death, no matter what the coroner’s report reveals we all know the truth of it. When she ...

In an economic and political period such as this in America, it is vital that your word be your bond. Where has integrity fallen on people’s list of values? Who are we as a country if lying is part of everyday living and interacting with people? I pose these questions after reading the Washington Post to discover that a former colleague, and someone I called a friend, was recently arrested and indicted on Federal bribery charges. Graham Aide's Arrest Rooted in Probe of D.C. Taxi Industry - washingtonpost.com I ask myself, who is this person to put his family, friends, and co-workers in such a perilous position. We are all now under suspicion for work we did for the people of the District of Columbia. Though I did not always agree with him, and openly told him so, I trusted him with everything but my ATM PIN. I interacted with his beautiful family, would always answer his calls no matter what time of night, and would stand up for him when community members trashed talked abo...