In the Next 5 Minutes...

http://www.holtinternational.org/cgi/sponsorship/index.cgi

It's Funny Cause It's True

Weekend Wisdom

"In President Obama, Americans have the real deal, the whole package and a leader that citizens of almost every country around the world look to with great envy. Given the opportunity, Canadians would trade our leader, hell, most of our leaders for Obama in a heartbeat."

-William Thomas

Read the whole thing here- it's an very interesting perspective

Wordless Wednesday

Cross Cultural "Misunderstanding"

For those of you who don't know, I work in (and K attends) what is known as an "urban" school.  It is high risk, high poverty, and almost 100% minority.  My children (except K) attend our local suburban school.  It is about 30% minority, middle class-ish and not high risk.  To be clear- one is not better or worse than the other but there is a bit of a difference between them. 

The other day I pick the kids up at Latchkey and the director stops me to tell me that X  had an "incident" with another child and that, while it was all worked out, he was a little upset by it.

I called X over to hear his story and while he was walking over the director assured me he hadn't done anything wrong.  So I ask
"So what happened today?"

X-"Billy* cut me"

(*name changed to protect the innocent)

Me-"What do you mean he cut you?  Where?  With what?"

The Director-"No, he cut in front of him in line"

Me- "Oh, at my school that means something totally different."

Weekend Wisdom

"Change can't happen if you write off half the nation before you even take office."

-Barack Obama

What the ----?, Jason from Howard City, MI

Partial transcript from NPR's show- Talk of the Nation

CONAN: Let's get a caller in on the conversation. We're talking with Richard Striner, history professor at Washington College, the author of several books on Abraham Lincoln, the most recent of which is "Lincoln on Race." And you're listening to TALK OF THE NATION, from NPR News.

Jason's on the line with us from Howard City in Michigan.

JASON: Hi, Neal.

CONAN: Hi. Go ahead, please.

JASON: Abraham Lincoln is my absolute least president - or least-favorite president. And I think he really did an awful thing with the Emancipation Proclamation. All of a sudden, you have a huge group of people who are uneducated, have - cannot, you know, can't read - and this is going to sound very racist, but it is true - were basically bred for size and, you know, low intelligence for years and years and years. And what it did is created all the problems we have now: the poverty in the inner cities, the, you know, the lack of education.

CONAN: Jason, it not only sounds racist, it is. I am astonished that anybody would make such a claim in 2012.

JASON: I understand that. But I - that's what I said, it would sound very racist. But what I'm saying is it should have been a gradual process, not immediate. It was just a war tactic basically, nothing else.

CONAN: Again, that's...

JASON: That's what I believe. I know it sounds horribly racist, and I'm not a racist person, but, I mean...

CONAN: I think some listeners might question you on that point.

In general, Jason, saying racist things pretty much makes you a racist.....