Andre wants to kill you

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Thursday April 20, 2006 · 7:14 PM PDT

2006/04/20 · 19:14

Andre has taken to writing "I will kill you" on his schoolwork. If it wasn't so awful, his addition to his first grade papers full of rhyming words might be funny: cat-hat, dog-log, will-kill. Today he spent his half hour at my music class alternately screaming out the words to the songs (THE CAT GOES FIDDLE-I-FEE!!!!!) and lying on his back propelling himself around the room with his feet. He tells me he wants to learn how to tap dance, but then he says he's too stupid. Getting him to smile is hard work. Andre, one of my school's New Orleans refugees, is one unhappy kid.

This week the Columbia School of Public health came out with a study about the children of Katrina: Read More

Just back from the rally

peregrina

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Saturday September 24, 2005 · 3:21 PM PDT

2005/09/24 · 15:21

It's interesting to read here about the rally from the point of view of those who saw it through the media, because from the ground, ANSWER was just not that important. While everyone gathered on the Elipse (and spilled out onto Constitution Avenue) there weren't that many people really listening to the speeches. The volume wasn't turned up very loud, it was hard to distinguish one from another, and everyone was busy reading each other's signs and t-shirts as they milled around waiting for the march to begin. (Apparently there was a three hour delay on Amtrak, and the leaders were waiting for the thousands coming down from NY and Philadelphia and other points north to arrive.) And once we started marching, ANSWER and all their absurdities had nothing to do with what was happening on the street. Read More

Tell me about the Sept. 24th rally in DC

peregrina

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Tuesday August 23, 2005 · 7:27 PM PDT

2005/08/23 · 19:27

I'd really like to go to the anti-war rally in DC next month and lend my voice to what needs to be said, but I've been to other anti-war rallies in DC and have been really uncomfortable, so I'd like to find out more about this one before I get involved.
Will the September 24th rally be like some of the pro-choice rallies that have taken place in DC, or the million mom march - lots of families, kids, a broad spectrum of people? Or will it be more like the ANSWER rally before the war - lots of fringe-y looking characters, anarchists, communists, etc. leafletting the crowd, and a huge amount of Israel bashing? Because the truth is, I'm uncomfortable in this very far-to-the-left atmosphere, and it also makes it seem kind of pointless - a rally like this is easy for the mainstream to dismiss. Plus I really can't stand listening to hours of vitriol against Israel, with no balance at all to the discussion.
So, anybody have a sense of what's going on?

Friday Night Fun - Kos High School

peregrina

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Friday July 22, 2005 · 7:14 PM PDT

2005/07/22 · 19:14

So, a few days ago, I made a comment on a front-page Armando thread that was kind of funny, and Armando replied, "Heh" and gave me a 4. As embarrassing as it is to admit it, I was thrilled. It felt like the cute, popular guy in my high school civics class had smiled at me. Then my comment got sixteen other "4"s and made the most highly-rated comments list, which also felt way cool. I know it's silly, but I felt like I had finally arrived. I was on the map, hanging with the in-crowd. And it all made me think how much Daily Kos reminds me of high school.

Yeah, yeah, we're adults talking about serious issues, mostly, but still, doesn't it sometimes feel that way to you? The flame wars, the rumors, the gossip; the TU status that defines you as in or out; the member numbers that let everyone know if you're a freshman or a senior; the clubs (C&J, pastordan's crowd, e pluribus media ...); the in-jokes and you-had-to-be-there moments (pie, bob johnson's dog...) Read More

Dean and Durbin at DNC fundraiser in DC

peregrina

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Wednesday June 22, 2005 · 6:34 AM PDT

2005/06/22 · 06:34

I'd never been to a fundraiser before - who knew they were so much like bar-mitzvahs? Wine and beer open bar, petit fours and coconut chicken on skewers, 4 piece combo playing standards in the background... the only thing missing was great-aunts coming along to ask me when I was going to get married. But there we were, a couple hundred dedicated Democrats at the National Museum for Women in the Arts in DC, meeting and greeting and eating, all in the name of "painting the nation blue." And of course, waiting for Howard Dean to come on stage to get us all worked up. Read More

the DSM rally in front of the White House

peregrina

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Thursday June 16, 2005 · 5:55 PM PDT

2005/06/16 · 17:55

I have to say, my favorite part of the whole thing was on the metro going downtown - I saw a woman with an "Impeach Now!" sign, clearly heading the same place I was, and when I said, "Hey, great sign!", she sighed and rolled her eyes and said, "I can't believe it, I used it for Clinton, and, now I need it again!"

Is this a great country or what?! Read More

A Teacher's National Teacher Day Rant - about parents

peregrina

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Tuesday May 03, 2005 · 10:29 AM PDT

2005/05/03 · 10:29

Today is National Teacher Day, and I, an elementary school music teacher home sick with strep throat, am going to indulge myself with a seemingly favorite Kos activity - a rant. But this time, it's not against No Child Left Behind, or administrators, or all the other nonsense that comes with working in today's public schools. Today I want to rant about parents.

I'm not talking about the nightmare parents - the abusers, the neglecters, the divorced couples who stand in the school parking lot screaming at each other as to whose turn it is to pick up their child. They are the obvious, and we do all we can to keep them from destroying their children. No, I want to talk about the ordinary, usually nice, ostensibly well-balanced and certainly well-meaning parents. The ones who can drive a teacher to distraction. Read More

Red State/Blue State Sister Cities

peregrina

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday February 24, 2005 · 12:14 PM PST

2005/02/24 · 12:14

It's a beautiful idea: you can't be manipulated into going to war against people you know. "Sister Cities" are two villages or towns or cities in two different countries paired together to make exchanges of all sorts - in technical expertise, in education, in the arts. But the heart of the program is the cultural understanding and friendships that come from the personal contact and sharing of experience. Such exchanges turn the scary, unknown "other" that is easy to hate into real people who happen to do things differently from you. The program started in Europe after WWII; you might notice that half the towns in France are "twins" with places in Germany.

I think it would be great to have a Red State/Blue State Sister City program here in the U.S. Let me explain:
Read More

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