If you're anything like me, you've probably financially given as much as possible to the Haiti relief fund. With money starting to get tight, and still having the uncontrollable urge to help in any way shape or form, it's time to look for other ways to help. Here is one way we can ALL help..
Haitian orphans are extremely vulnerable right now. There are reports of human traffickers abducting the orphaned children. There is evidence of children being stolen amid the death and destruction in Haiti. There are reports of unauthorised people taking children by road to the neighbouring Dominican Republic and of planes illegally loading children before they left the airport.
We have documented around 15 case of children disappearing from hospitals and not with their own family at the time," Luc Legrand, an adviser to Unicef said. "Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund) has been working in Haiti for many years and we know the problem with trade of children in Haiti and unfortunately many of these trade networks have links with international 'market'.... See More
"This is going on, this is happening now, and we are starting to have the first evidence of that, this is unquestionable."
Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said child trafficking in Haiti was "an existing problem and could easily emerge as a serious issue over the coming weeks and months".
Take Action for Haiti’s Orphans
• The United States government has issued humanitarian parole for the few hundred orphans that were already matched with adoptive parents in the United States prior to the earthquake.
• There are still over 50,000 orphans left in Haiti after the earthquake. These children have no one looking out for them. Some orphanage workers are reporting that they are overseeing 50-100 children per worker, with food and water running out or already gone.
• You can make a difference!
Contact the following government officials from Florida and either call, fax or write to them. Pray first and be polite, straight forward and brief. Below is a sample of what to say. Feel free to copy exactly if you wish:
“Thank you for supporting the humanitarian parole for the children who were already matched with a family in the United States. BUT, we must do something for the orphans who were not yet matched. There were thousands in orphanages with documentation before the earthquake. These children ARE extremely vulnerable right now and must be granted the same humanitarian parole. Where do you stand on expanding humanitarian parole for them? What actions are you taking to ensure that they are safe?”
Also, you can contact the Haitian Embassy at www.haiti.org as well.
Here are the contacts to write, call or fax:
George LeMieux
United States Senate
356 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202)224-3041
Fax (202)228-5171
Cliff Stearns
2370 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202)225-5744
Fax (202)225-3973
Bill Nelson
United States Senate
716 Senate Hart Office Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202)224-5274
Fax (202)228-2183
Corrine Brown
2444 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202)225-0123
Fax(202)225-2256
What is humanitarian parole?
Humanitarian parole is an extraordinary measure, sparingly used to bring an otherwise inadmissible alien into the United States for a temporary period of time due to a very compelling emergency. Not that humanitarian parole may only be requested for persons who are outside of the United States. Parole into the United States may be granted temporarily on a case by case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Quotes I like by Demetri Martin
- ‘Sort of’ is such a harmless thing to say. Sort of. It’s just a filler..... Sort of – it doesn’t really mean anything. But after certain things, 'sort of' means everything. Like after ‘I love you’.... or ‘You’re going to live’.... or ‘It’s a boy.’
- I saw a guy at a party wearing a leather jacket and I thought, ‘That is cool.’ But then I saw another guy wearing a leather vest and I thought, ‘That is not cool’. Then I figured it out: ‘Cool’ is all about leather sleeves.
- Whenever I investigate a smell, I find that the answer is always bad. It’s never: ‘What IS that? *sniff* .........muffins!’
- I got some new pajamas with pockets in ‘em. Which is great, because before that, I used to have to hold stuff when I slept. But now I’m like, ‘Where’s my planner? There it is. “Keep sleeping.” All right, perfect.’
- I like fruit baskets because it gives you the ability to mail someone a piece of fruit without appearing insane. Like, if someone just mailed you an apple you’d be like ‘Huh? What the hell is this?’, but if it’s in a fruit basket you’re like ‘This is nice!.
- I feel stupid when I write the word banana. Its like, how many n-a’s are on this thing? ‘Cause I’m like ‘Ba-n-a … keep going. n-a n-a … damn.’
- I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that’s 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says ‘go outside.’
- One of my friends has a stutter and a lot of people think that’s a bad thing, but to me that’s just like starting certain words with a drum roll. That’s not an impediment, that’s suspense! What’s he going to say? Car?? …or Carnival?? …Carburetor!?!? Man…
- A drunk driver is very dangerous. So is a drunk backseat driver if he’s persuasive. ‘Dude make a left.’ ‘Those are trees…’ ‘Trust me .’
- I like the beach. I like to get there really early before everyone else shows up and take like thirty bottles with notes in them and throw them into the water. Then I wait for everyone to come to the beach and when someone goes to pick up one of the bottles, I go up
behind them because when they open it there’s a note saying ‘I’m standing right behind you.’
- I like sports; I like professional football. I like to get to the stadium and see the games live, you know. And I paint my chest before I leave the house. But I don’t have many friends, you know, so I usually just do punctuation and tack on a group already in progress. But sometimes it works out kind of weird because we ended up on TV one time and it said ‘JETS?’
- I went into a clothes store and a lady came up to me and said “if you need anything, I’m Jill”. I’ve never met anyone with a conditional identity before. What if I don't need anything? Who are you?
- The digital camera is a great invention because it allows us to reminisce.... Instantly.
- I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I’m good at everything.
- I saw a door that said exit only. So I entered through it and went up to the guy working there and said “I have good news. You have severely underestimated that door over there. By like a hundred percent.”
- I don’t like thank you cards because i don’t know what else to say. It’s like what to I put on the inside?.... “See Front”
- So I was eating this cereal, and I had all these questions and comments. Luckily there was a number on the box. So I called, and said, ‘I have a question: Is this cereal as delicious as i think it is? And I have a comment: yes.’”
- I feel like my washing machine is sneaky. I put clothes in there and detergent and I hear all this noise and this turning around then I open the lid to see what’s going on and it’s like,... ‘…What man we’re just hanging out in here. There’s nothing happening, don’t worry about it. I’m a washing machine, not a Show-you-how-I-do-it machine.’
- I noticed that there are no B batteries. I think that’s to avoid confusion, cause if there were you wouldn’t know if someone was stuttering. ‘Yes, hello I’d like some b-batteries.’ ‘What kind?’ ‘B-batteries.’ ‘What kind?!?’ ‘B-batteries!!!’ and D-batteries that’s hard for foreigners. ‘Yes, I would like de batteries.’
- I was on the street. This guy waved to me, and he came up to me and said, “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.” And I said, “I am"
- About a month ago I got a cactus. A week later, it died. I was really depressed because I was like ‘Dang! I am less nurturing than a desert.’
**New as of 02.04.10**
- I like parties, but I don't like piñatas because the pinata promotes violence against flamboyant animals. Hey, there's a donkey with some pizzazz. Let's kick its ass. What I'm trying to say is, don't make the same Halloween costume mistake that I did.
- Employee of the month is a good example of how somebody can be both a winner and a loser at the same time
- I like clothes, you know. I dig fabrics. One of my favorite clothing patterns is camouflage. Because when you're in the woods it makes you blend in. But when you're not it does just the opposite. It's like, 'Hey, there's an A-hole.' But when you're in the woods you're like, 'Is there an A-hole out here?' They look like trees.
- My favorite fruit is grapes. Because with grapes, you always get another chance. 'Cause, you know, if you have a crappy apple or a peach, you're stuck with that crappy piece of fruit. But if you have a crappy grape, no problem - just move on to the next. 'Grapes: The Fruit of Hope.'
- My plumbing is all screwed up. Because it turns out, I do not own a garbage disposal
- I keep a lighter in my back pocket all the time. I'm not a smoker, I just really like certain songs
- There's a saying that goes "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Okay. How about "Nobody should throw stones." That's crappy behavior. My policy is: "No stone throwing regardless of housing situation." Don't do it. There is one exception though. If you're trapped in a glass house, and you have a stone, then throw it. What are you, an idiot? So maybe it's "Only people in glass houses should throw stones, provided they are trapped in the house with a stone." It's a little longer, but yeah.
(this next one is awful... sorry)
- If I ever saw an amputee being hanged, I would just yell out letters
- There's a store in my neighborhood called Futon World. I like that name, "Futon World." Makes me think of a magical place that gets less and less comfortable over time.
- I like video games, but they are very violent. I want to create a video game in which you have to help all the characters who have died in the other games. "Hey, man, what are you playing?" "Super Busy Hospital. Could you leave me alone? I'm performing surgery! This guy got shot in the head, like, 27 times!"
- I saw a guy at a party wearing a leather jacket and I thought, ‘That is cool.’ But then I saw another guy wearing a leather vest and I thought, ‘That is not cool’. Then I figured it out: ‘Cool’ is all about leather sleeves.
- Whenever I investigate a smell, I find that the answer is always bad. It’s never: ‘What IS that? *sniff* .........muffins!’
- I got some new pajamas with pockets in ‘em. Which is great, because before that, I used to have to hold stuff when I slept. But now I’m like, ‘Where’s my planner? There it is. “Keep sleeping.” All right, perfect.’
- I like fruit baskets because it gives you the ability to mail someone a piece of fruit without appearing insane. Like, if someone just mailed you an apple you’d be like ‘Huh? What the hell is this?’, but if it’s in a fruit basket you’re like ‘This is nice!.
- I feel stupid when I write the word banana. Its like, how many n-a’s are on this thing? ‘Cause I’m like ‘Ba-n-a … keep going. n-a n-a … damn.’
- I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that’s 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says ‘go outside.’
- One of my friends has a stutter and a lot of people think that’s a bad thing, but to me that’s just like starting certain words with a drum roll. That’s not an impediment, that’s suspense! What’s he going to say? Car?? …or Carnival?? …Carburetor!?!? Man…
- A drunk driver is very dangerous. So is a drunk backseat driver if he’s persuasive. ‘Dude make a left.’ ‘Those are trees…’ ‘Trust me .’
- I like the beach. I like to get there really early before everyone else shows up and take like thirty bottles with notes in them and throw them into the water. Then I wait for everyone to come to the beach and when someone goes to pick up one of the bottles, I go up
behind them because when they open it there’s a note saying ‘I’m standing right behind you.’
- I like sports; I like professional football. I like to get to the stadium and see the games live, you know. And I paint my chest before I leave the house. But I don’t have many friends, you know, so I usually just do punctuation and tack on a group already in progress. But sometimes it works out kind of weird because we ended up on TV one time and it said ‘JETS?’
- I went into a clothes store and a lady came up to me and said “if you need anything, I’m Jill”. I’ve never met anyone with a conditional identity before. What if I don't need anything? Who are you?
- The digital camera is a great invention because it allows us to reminisce.... Instantly.
- I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I’m good at everything.
- I saw a door that said exit only. So I entered through it and went up to the guy working there and said “I have good news. You have severely underestimated that door over there. By like a hundred percent.”
- I don’t like thank you cards because i don’t know what else to say. It’s like what to I put on the inside?.... “See Front”
- So I was eating this cereal, and I had all these questions and comments. Luckily there was a number on the box. So I called, and said, ‘I have a question: Is this cereal as delicious as i think it is? And I have a comment: yes.’”
- I feel like my washing machine is sneaky. I put clothes in there and detergent and I hear all this noise and this turning around then I open the lid to see what’s going on and it’s like,... ‘…What man we’re just hanging out in here. There’s nothing happening, don’t worry about it. I’m a washing machine, not a Show-you-how-I-do-it machine.’
- I noticed that there are no B batteries. I think that’s to avoid confusion, cause if there were you wouldn’t know if someone was stuttering. ‘Yes, hello I’d like some b-batteries.’ ‘What kind?’ ‘B-batteries.’ ‘What kind?!?’ ‘B-batteries!!!’ and D-batteries that’s hard for foreigners. ‘Yes, I would like de batteries.’
- I was on the street. This guy waved to me, and he came up to me and said, “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.” And I said, “I am"
- About a month ago I got a cactus. A week later, it died. I was really depressed because I was like ‘Dang! I am less nurturing than a desert.’
**New as of 02.04.10**
- I like parties, but I don't like piñatas because the pinata promotes violence against flamboyant animals. Hey, there's a donkey with some pizzazz. Let's kick its ass. What I'm trying to say is, don't make the same Halloween costume mistake that I did.
- Employee of the month is a good example of how somebody can be both a winner and a loser at the same time
- I like clothes, you know. I dig fabrics. One of my favorite clothing patterns is camouflage. Because when you're in the woods it makes you blend in. But when you're not it does just the opposite. It's like, 'Hey, there's an A-hole.' But when you're in the woods you're like, 'Is there an A-hole out here?' They look like trees.
- My favorite fruit is grapes. Because with grapes, you always get another chance. 'Cause, you know, if you have a crappy apple or a peach, you're stuck with that crappy piece of fruit. But if you have a crappy grape, no problem - just move on to the next. 'Grapes: The Fruit of Hope.'
- My plumbing is all screwed up. Because it turns out, I do not own a garbage disposal
- I keep a lighter in my back pocket all the time. I'm not a smoker, I just really like certain songs
- There's a saying that goes "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Okay. How about "Nobody should throw stones." That's crappy behavior. My policy is: "No stone throwing regardless of housing situation." Don't do it. There is one exception though. If you're trapped in a glass house, and you have a stone, then throw it. What are you, an idiot? So maybe it's "Only people in glass houses should throw stones, provided they are trapped in the house with a stone." It's a little longer, but yeah.
(this next one is awful... sorry)
- If I ever saw an amputee being hanged, I would just yell out letters
- There's a store in my neighborhood called Futon World. I like that name, "Futon World." Makes me think of a magical place that gets less and less comfortable over time.
- I like video games, but they are very violent. I want to create a video game in which you have to help all the characters who have died in the other games. "Hey, man, what are you playing?" "Super Busy Hospital. Could you leave me alone? I'm performing surgery! This guy got shot in the head, like, 27 times!"
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
bumper stickers- random rant
Bumper stickers drive me absolutely batty... let me rephrase that, bumper stickers that make no sense to ME drive me batty. okay.. A. Why would you intentionally put a bumper sticker on your car if it's not intended to be understood by everyone... example.. (13.1)... (CH)... (MVY)... (DK)....? Really?? what does that even mean?? B. Can you not see the agony you have caused me?? I hate you. and C. Why is this even blog worthy??!
I wanna take some random numbers or letters and put them on the back of my car. or better yet, some random words... (WIRE) or (ROPE) or (PETUNIA) ... but knowing my luck, they would be acronyms for something... Part ExtraTerrestrial United Nudist International Association...
I wanna take some random numbers or letters and put them on the back of my car. or better yet, some random words... (WIRE) or (ROPE) or (PETUNIA) ... but knowing my luck, they would be acronyms for something... Part ExtraTerrestrial United Nudist International Association...
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
bills bills bills
So I went to check my mail this morning on the way back from taking Angelina to school, hoping that there was a check from financial aid in there... No check..
UGH
but there were like 3 bills...
I put them back in my mailbox...
Hopefully if I wish really really hard, when I check my mail this afternoon, they will have vanished...
UGH
but there were like 3 bills...
I put them back in my mailbox...
Hopefully if I wish really really hard, when I check my mail this afternoon, they will have vanished...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Oh yea? well YOUR MOM needs to work on sequences at home cuz she doesn't understand it
So this is what bothers me about having 20+ kids in a classroom... These papers (see the attached picture) get sent home weekly.. and every week Jayruh's is "wrong"... If the teacher would take the time to find out what's going on instead of just telling me Jayruh isn't doing well with any of these assignments, she would see Jayruh can totally understand the concept of sequence. I sat down with her the other day and worked on a few of the take-home assignments.Basically Jayruh cuts out four pictures. Then puts them in order according to which of the pictures happened first, second, third, last. We did one the other day with three pictures... and Jayruh got them "wrong" and I was frustrated... I'm like "Jayruh, tell me what is going on in each picture and then tell me which order they go in"
And here is what I saw going on in the picture.. Picture 1 - Girl picking apples from trees and putting them in baskets.. Picture 2- Girl taking baskets of apples to her "Annie's Apples" truck.. Picture 3- Girl stirring pot and making applesauce..
And here is what Jayruh told me was going on in the pictures.. Picture 1- Girl picking apples from the tree.. Picture 2- Girl cooking different kinds of things with the apples.. Picture 3- Girl taking the rest of the apples to her friends..
Clearly Jayruh doesn't have a problem with putting things in sequence.. she just is not interpreting things the same way that everyone else is.. but it's not that she's dumb and can't do the assignment..
In the attached picture.. the sequence was supposed to be Pic 1- bear with snowball in hand.. Pic 2- Bear with smaller snowball that was beginning to melt.. Pic 3- bear with even smaller snowball that was melting and even bigger puddle by his feet.. Pic 4- bear with no snowball in hand..
And here is how Jayruh interpreted it... Pic 1- bear with no snowball.. Pic 2-bear made a snowball.. Pic 3- snowball starts melting.. Pic 4- snowball melts more..
Like I can totally understand how she is mixing these things up.. I don't think I need a parent-teacher conference to tell me that Jayruh needs to work on these things more.. She understands that things go in a particular order... She's just looking at each picture in a different way. Trust me, we do these things at home, and when she sees a certain picture, she interprets what's happening differently than I do. And who's to say SHE isn't right? Really, our judgement of a snapshot of a story can be totally wrong.
I guess it's hard, because every teacher she's ever had has been blown away by her ability to understand things.. I mean she was talking in sentences at age 2. Her memory is absolutely amazing. She's a very intelligent girl. And to have this teacher telling me she's not, irks me..
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