Barbara Curtis's Blog, page 184

Congress to investigate Planned Parenthood

Dear CV Friend,

Imagine that
you were the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Who would you
investigate?

Rep. Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican, has decided that it's time to investigate abortion giant Planned
Parenthood.

Just yesterday he announced that his committee has sent a letter to Planned Parenthood, demanding records on how the
organization spends the $363 million it receives from American taxpayers.

Rep. Stearns also demanded documentation to determine if Planned
Parenthood was properly following federal guidelines on the mandatory reporting of underage sexual abuse.

In
a letter to Cecile Richards,
president of Planned Parenthood, Chairman Stearns wrote: "If Planned
Parenthood thinks they deserve our taxpayer money why do they feel they
can
deny our elected officials the right to ask what they are doing with our
taxpayer money?"

I couldn't have said it better
myself.

Let's send a strong message to Rep. Stearns and other elected officials that if they take a brave stand for life, the Catholic
community will stand behind and support them.

Do you support Rep. Cliff Stearns for investigating Planned Parenthood?

Then add your name to our letter thanking him!

Click here: http://cvote.to/4n

Thanks for all you do to put the
Catholic back in the Catholic vote.

Sincerely,

Brian Burch
President
CatholicVote.org

Michelle Obama shops Target - AP just happens to be there

Queen Michelle and I have something in common. We both shopped at Target yesterday. The big difference was that no AP photographer just happened to be there to snap my picture.

So clearly another phony photo op. We're in campaign mode and the press keeps reminding us that Michelle is more popular than Barack.

UK Mail: Michelle Obama, discount shopper: First Lady dresses down for a trip to Target (or was it an early campaign stop?)

The sad thing is how many MichelleObots gobble this stuff up, forgetting the much more characteristic extravagant spending by our First Lady on staff, parties, entertainment, vacations for friends, clothing, food, jewelry, separate planes for her and her husband - and on and on. (Best ongoing commentary on Michelle's daily doings - plus some hot political commentary - can be found at Michelle Obama's Mirror).

I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot less of Her Imperial Majesty and a lot more of Just-Plain-Folks Michelle in the months to come. For libs, it's always style over substance, photo op over reality. And their memories are short, which is why they are not getting it that our memories are long and there is no way these phonies will occupy the White House another four years:

Michelle Obama shops incognito at Target

The biggest cheerleaders of Michelle's rigorous campaign schedule are the media, and yet in a bizarre note:

ABC Bizarrely Chides Campaigning of Rick Perry's Wife: This Means 'Trouble'

The hotter the campaign gets, the more the double standards, hypocrisy, and media manipulation.

And God forbid the media should discuss issues.

Obama's $$ plea today - from Michelle

You really ought to sign up for BarackObama.com so you too can receive these daily please for more, more, more.

It's kind of reassuring to see how desperate they are:

Barbara --



Not everyone knows how to prepare for a dinner like this. As someone
who's eaten countless meals with my husband, I want to tell you the one
thing to do if you're selected to join him...



Just relax. Barack wants this dinner to be fun, and he really loves getting to know supporters like you.



I hope you'll take him up on it before Friday's deadline.

Will you donate $3 or more today and be entered to have dinner with Barack?



These dinners mean a lot to Barack. They're a chance for him to talk
with a few of the people who are driving the campaign -- and a chance
for him to say thank you.



So come prepared to tell your story, and say whatever's on your mind.



Don't miss the opportunity to be there. Donate $3 today, before the September 30th deadline:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Dinner



Thanks,



Michelle

Viral video: Grand Rapids LipDub

When in January 2011 Newsweek named Grand Rapids one of 10 Dying Cities. two social entrepreneurs decided not to let the insult stand. Rob Bliss and Rick DeVos gathered a cast of thousands to produce the following video, which has garnered more than 4 million hits on YouTube and which film critic Roger Ebert called "The Greatest Music Video Ever Made":

The Grand Rapids LipDub (NEW WORLD RECORD)

The news story:

Grand Rapids Video Response To Newsweek

Loudoun: Joshua's Hands Fall Festival October 8

A wonderful, free fall festival for families. Spread the word:
















Fall Festival  Save the date!       











It's Time To Celebrate!

Mark your calendar now for October 8 (10 AM-5 PM)!  That's the date
when we'll gather for the Fall Festival by Joshua's Hands!  Our theme this
 year is:
Be Grateful & Celebrate!

Invite
your friends and neighbors to join us for food, games, entertainment,

crafts, demonstrations, pony rides, tractor rides, etc.  Teens will love
our
new Teen Challenge - brought to us by Summit Adventure!  All
activities
are FREE, however there will be a country store, donation
buckets, and an
auction that will provide opportunities for you to
support the work of
Joshua's Hands.

Although
the event is completely free, all funds raised by the auction will help
to pay for this year's festival, as well as to fund summer camp
scholarships
and college scholarships.














Ya'll Come!






Invite your friends and neighbors to join us for food, games,
  entertainment, crafts,
 demonstrations, pony rides, tractor rides, etc.
 


FREE!
FREE!
FREE!















Auction





 All
activities are FREE, however there will be a country store, donation
buckets, and an auction that will provide opportunities for you to
support the work of Joshua's Hands.


Donate items for the auction -- support the
work of
Joshua's Hands!















Fun for All






We'll have an old fashioned Spelling Bee, hay rides, three-legged
  races, a petting farm and so much more! Our carnival style games are always a hit, and everyone wins prizes.
 



Prizes for All!














Entertainment





Cloggers
Fiddlers
Clowns
Puppets
Musicians
Gymnasts

And much more!



Entertainment
all day long!


















We're looking forward to a fantastic time of rejoicing together.
Save the date - October 8 (10 AM-5 PM)!

 
Be Grateful & Celebrate!

 _____________________________________________________________________________






___________________________________________________________________________________




As always, your financial contributions are welcome and tax deductible.
For more information about Joshua's Hands, please visit our website.
Thank you again for your support.


The work of Joshua's Hands is fivefold:

Young Drivers' Education · Scholarships · Community Service
Annual Fall Festival ·  Heritage Education
















Forward email

Obama votes prove what?

This is an actual sign that recently went up just outside Madison, Alabama, at the corner of Capshaw Rd. and E. Limestone Rd.

Remove sunscreen stains from clothing

So we came home from vacation (more to come, I promise) with a few clothing items that turned vivid orange after washing. I think it was Hattie who told me this was caused by sunscreen. Defeated with my usual remedies, I did a little research and found this:

How to Remove Yellow (orange) Sun Screen Stains










By Jess Jones, eHow Contributor







Most people know the dangers of going out in the sun without properly protecting their skin with sunscreen. If you are fair-skinned or have children, you probably
do take the necessary steps to protect yourself and your little ones.
However, you may have found yellow (orange) stains on your bathing suit, on beach
towels and on other clothing, and don't know how the stains got there.
These stains were caused by contact with your skin before the sunscreen
was dried.

Before you toss out your favorite swimsuit, use this home
remedy to remove those nasty stains:
 
Soak garment in warm water for an hour or more.
Wet bar of Ivory soap and rub it on the stain. Use your fingers to get the soap deep into the fabric.
Wet toothbrush and gently scrub the stain
Rinse the stain well in warm water.
Wash as usual in your washing machine.
After the cycle is finished, check to see if the stain is still visible. If it's gone, dry garment
according to the label. If it's not, repeat steps 1 through 4.Read more at Ehow.

Planning to get some Ivory Soap tomorrow at Walmart. Anyone have anything to contribute to this dilemma?

See also Sunblock... laundry enemy...

X Factor - Parents Television Council FCC complaint

While on vacation last week (more about that later), our whole family watched The X Factor last Wednesday night and so were among a multitude subjected to the striptease of a pudgy, dorky, awkward man whose self-exposure was covered up by a superimposed X while he bumped and ground his way around the stage for longer than anyone could have believed possible.

Up until then we had sort of enjoyed the show. But that left such a bad taste in our mouths, we watched a movie the next night instead of tuning back in.

All I could think of were the children and 'tween girls in the live audience who didn't have the X covering this gross display. And I couldn't understand why he wasn't removed from the stage immediately.

Now they say he was actually wearing some kind of thong underwear, but still it crossed the line of decency in a family show

Anyway, the Parents Television Council, a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment has decided to take action and made it easy for you to as well:

FILE AN OFFICIAL FCC INDECENCY COMPLAINT AGAINST
Fox's The X Factor

 

In a TV landscape that is
turning increasingly hostile to family
audiences, it is always a relief to find an
hour or two each week when you can relax
together as a family and enjoy a program
that is reliably free of offensive content. 

Which is why so many parents
feel utterly betrayed when a program billed
and promoted as family-friendly catches them
off-guard with offensive, indecent content.

Wednesday night millions of
families tuned-in to watch 2-hour season
premiere of The X Factor on Fox. 
From the same creators of American Idol
which skyrocketed to the top of the ratings
charts because of loyal family audiences,
families had every reason to believe The
X Factor would be similarly
family-friendly.

Instead they got a
sucker-punch in the form of a grossly
inappropriate performance from Geo Godley,
who dropped his pants and appeared to expose himself
(covered only by a digitally superimposed X)
during a song and dance routine. 

If you do what contestant Geo
Godley did in public, you get arrested.
Apparently, if do it on Fox, you get free
publicity during prime time. The fact that
prolonged, previously taped footage of a
contestant dancing nude on the X Factor
stage made it to air represents a conscious
decision by the producers to put this
content in front of families during hours
when children are likely to be watching.
This incident demonstrates Fox's contempt
for any standard of decency in exchange for
free use of the publicly-owned airwaves.

If you agree that this
content does not belong on primetime
television - particularly on a show that
masquerades as family entertainment, take
action now by filing a complaint with the
FCC.

When the broadcast networks
challenged the FCC's fines for fleeting
nudity and fleeting expletives, they assured
Americans that if the courts ruled in their
favor they wouldn't suddenly start inserting
more and more offensive content just because
the courts gave them the "right" to do so.
Yet this week the New York Times
notes a marked increase in unbleeped
anatomical references during primetime hours
on the broadcast networks; and now Fox is
deliberately choosing to include footage of
a man undressing on stage.

To make matters worse - the
episode was rated TV-PG DL, so even if
parents were using the V-Chip, that panacea
touted by the entertainment industry as a
parent's best ally in protecting their
children from inappropriate content, it
would not have prevented audiences from
seeing the disgraceful performance.

This X Factor
striptease is indecent by any contemporary
community standard.  The FCC needs to hear
from you today.  Please take action now.

TAKE A MOMENT NOW to file your official Indecency Complaint with the FCC, and
please, forward this message to everyone in your address book.
 

Montessori: When is praise harmful?

A rerun from 2008:

I was wondering what Montessori has to say about praising the child?

I've just been reading some Alfie Kohn articles and am a bit confused, as what he says does make sense.. and I am one parent who has been brought up with 'good girl!' and all that, and just do the same with my child..

would appreciate some comments?

Thanks so much,

Warmest wishes,

Rayhana

Hi Rayhana -

This is a great question. In my training - which was very purist Montessori - praising the child was frowned upon, as it robbed the child of feeling self-satisfaction and taught him or her to seek outer approval.

This is definitely a problem in our culture, where the child does not have many opportunities to serve - and so grow in confidence/self-esteem - and becomes dependent on the adults in his life for recognition. As you've noticed with your automatic tendency, we tend to praise in vague terms: "Great job!" And hyperbole: "That's fantastic/awesome/wonderful!"

Kids raised with this kind of habitual input will automatically turn outward to find approval. And our culture is currently way too overindulgent - making everyone "winners" as when every member of a sports team gets a trophy rather than just the outstanding players.

I'm afraid in real life, we've taken away some of the motivation and inspiration to pursue excellence as through the over-feminization of our culture we've tried to make sure no one has hurt feelings.

There is a way to praise children which guides them into self-knowledge and objective evaluation - greater autonomy and less dependence on the approval of others. I found a good description at the North American Montessori Center and I'm going to pass it on because I don't think I can improve on it:

Descriptive praise does not evaluate what a child has done, but rather, describes it in terms so that the child is likely to recognize the truth and credit and praise herself. Learning to use descriptive praise, rather than just compliment or judge, can be difficult, but the payoffs are great. Montessori children become independent thinkers and doers, without having to look to somebody else for approval. They learn to trust themselves and their own judgment. They learn to make corrections or adjustments based upon their own evaluations.

Descriptive praise notices, mentions, and emphasizes steps in the right direction, improvements in behavior, work habits and attitude, social skills, and any absence of undesirable or negative behavior. It can also motivate reluctant or resistant students in our Montessori classrooms.

Descriptive praise has two parts: describe what you see and hear and then describe what you feel.

Evaluative Praise:

* That's a beautiful picture.

* You are strong.

* You're a great cook.

* Great job

* That's fantastic!

Descriptive Praise:

* I like the details you used in your picture. The colors you chose are so lifelike.

* That was a heavy load. Thank you for helping me carry it.

* The flavors in your salad were so crisp and fresh.

* You're using your inside voice. Thank you.

* I appreciate that you didn't interrupt while I was giving my Montessori lesson.

* Thank you for not arguing.

* Thank you for cleaning up when you were asked.

Wise words. This is a step you can take in encouraging your child's healthy independence without even taking an extra minute. Just begin to make your praise more evaluative and meaningful.

So instead of saying, "You are doing a great job being a mom!" I should say: "Your curiosity and eagerness to learn more about being a better mom is going to be of great benefit to your children." :)

Dover Coloring Books - Amazon 4-for-3 sale

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