#and meeting all the people who picked 'abusing service workers' as their Covid thing

[gordonwilliamsweb]

Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic

After covid-19 forced Olivia Goulding’s Indiana middle school to switch back to remote learning late last year, the math teacher lost contact with many of her students. So she and some colleagues came up with a plan: visiting them under the guise of dropping off Christmas gifts.

This story also ran on USA Today. It can be republished for free.

One day in December, they set out with cards and candy canes and dropped by the homes of every eighth grader at Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute, a city of more than 60,000 near the Illinois border where both Indiana State University and the federal death row are located. They saw firsthand how these kids, many living in poverty and dysfunctional families, were coping with the pandemic’s disruptions to their academic and social routines.

“You just have a better concept of where they’re coming from and the challenges they really do have,” Goulding said. “When you’re looking at that electronic grade book and Sally Lou hasn’t turned in something, you remember back in your mind: ‘Oh, yeah, Sally Lou was home by herself, taking care of three younger siblings when I stopped by, and I spotted her helping Johnny with his math and she was helping this one with something else.’”

The school’s experience provides a window into the hardships millions of families across the country have endured since last March, and exemplifies why education isn’t the only reason many Americans want schools to fully reopen. Schools like Sarah Scott help hold their communities together by providing households with wide-ranging support, which has become much tougher during the pandemic.

“A lot of our students are struggling emotionally,” said Sarah Scott’s principal, Scotia Brown. “They’re stressed because they’re falling behind in their work. Or they’re stressed because of the conditions they’re living with at home.”

Even before the coronavirus struck, kids at Sarah Scott faced significant obstacles that compounded the normal social challenges and surging hormones of middle school. They live in Vigo County, which has the state’s highest rate of child poverty and high rates of child neglect. Nearly 90% of students qualified for free or reduced-fee lunches. Some showed up needing to shower and change at the school, which has a food pantry that also offers clothes and hygiene products.

Things got more difficult for students when covid threw Sarah Scott’s normal schedule into disarray. Initially, the school went totally remote, then moved to partially in-person for the start of the 2020-21 school year. When covid spiked in October, Sarah Scott went remote again because not enough substitute teachers could fill in for quarantining staff. Since January, students have been spending part of each week in the school building, with no plans as of early March to open fully.

Kids were given laptops to use at home. But internet access can be problematic.

“Internet has been the worst,” said Samantha Riley, mother of seventh grader Mariah Pointer. “So many people are on it, it shuts down all the time.”

When that happens, she uses the Wi-Fi emitting from the school bus that sits in front of her apartment complex, one of several parked around the community to fill the gaps.

Even when the internet works, though, keeping kids on task at home isn’t easy. Heather Raley said she often cries from the stress of trying to make her eighth grade daughter engage online. “It just seems like we’re always butting heads over this,” Raley said. “It’s just a bigger battle getting the work done.”

As in many other communities, students are falling behind academically. Some don’t do any of their e-learning activities. Sarah Scott’s reports to child protective services for educational neglect — when caregivers aren’t getting their children to either in-person or remote classes — have more than tripled this school year.

Brown said she also worries about physical neglect and abuse, which is harder to detect when interacting with students remotely. “If you’re in an abusive home and you have to be there five days out of the week because you’re doing remote learning, you’re in that environment even more,” she said.

More time at home can also mean doing without necessities, including food.

The school helps by offering free breakfasts and lunches for in-person students and to-go lunches on remote days. Sometimes, the principal delivers boxes of groceries to students’ homes. The school recently secured a microwave for one family and an inflatable mattress for a student who’d been sharing a bed with his grandmother.

For some kids, the stress of the pandemic has worsened emotional problems and mental illness. Recently, a former Sarah Scott student who had moved out of state logged into her former teacher’s virtual class to say she planned to kill herself. The school contacted police, who checked on her. Referrals for suicidal students are up fourfold, Brown said.

School social worker Nichelle Campbell-Miller said it’s been tough counseling kids online or through text messages.

“I am all about building relationships and being in person and being able to dap you up or give you a hug and be like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’” she said, using a term for various greetings like fist bumps or elaborate handshakes. “So being online is extremely difficult for me, because you can’t really tell the tone of your student. When I’m talking to you in person, I can read your body language and I can gauge where you’re at.”

Right now, she said, the psychological well-being of her middle schoolers is even more important than education.

Many students, such as eighth grader Trea Johnson, come up against challenges on both fronts. Trea transferred to Sarah Scott two days before covid ended in-person learning.

“We struggle with school anyway,” said his mom, Kathy Poff. “Then when this pandemic came along, it just knocked our feet out from under us.”

His grades plunged. He began to hate school, Poff said. He didn’t attend his daily video meetings with his teachers. His mother fought with him to complete his online assignments.

“I usually get pretty bored,” said Trea, whose long, straight hair sometimes falls over his eyes.

Poff found him a therapist he meets with once a week. She said his mood and academic productivity have improved. He wants to be a computer programmer and has been coding in his spare time lately. She also moved his computer into her bedroom so she could better monitor him and has started paying him to do his schoolwork.

“I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be a 13-year-old going through this pandemic,” said Poff, 51, a single mother. “They’re going through changes anyway, adjusting to adolescence and figuring out who they are, and they don’t even have a social group to figure that out.”

Goulding, the math teacher, said she’s glad she and her co-workers can help provide stability and continuity during this trying period. One recent night, for example, she got a call from a truant boy’s grandmother, who said she was in poor health and raising him alone. The next day, the principal and social worker picked him up and drove him to school.

Still, Goulding lamented not seeing her most vulnerable students on the days when they are remote.

“How do I check on my kids? How do I make sure they’re eating? How do I make sure,” she paused to compose herself, her voice quavering, “they’re safe?

“You’re no longer thinking about, ‘How are they doing on their polynomials?’ You’re thinking about, you know, the reality of life.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).

Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

[stephenmccull]

Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic

After covid-19 forced Olivia Goulding’s Indiana middle school to switch back to remote learning late last year, the math teacher lost contact with many of her students. So she and some colleagues came up with a plan: visiting them under the guise of dropping off Christmas gifts.

This story also ran on USA Today. It can be republished for free.

One day in December, they set out with cards and candy canes and dropped by the homes of every eighth grader at Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute, a city of more than 60,000 near the Illinois border where both Indiana State University and the federal death row are located. They saw firsthand how these kids, many living in poverty and dysfunctional families, were coping with the pandemic’s disruptions to their academic and social routines.

“You just have a better concept of where they’re coming from and the challenges they really do have,” Goulding said. “When you’re looking at that electronic grade book and Sally Lou hasn’t turned in something, you remember back in your mind: ‘Oh, yeah, Sally Lou was home by herself, taking care of three younger siblings when I stopped by, and I spotted her helping Johnny with his math and she was helping this one with something else.’”

The school’s experience provides a window into the hardships millions of families across the country have endured since last March, and exemplifies why education isn’t the only reason many Americans want schools to fully reopen. Schools like Sarah Scott help hold their communities together by providing households with wide-ranging support, which has become much tougher during the pandemic.

“A lot of our students are struggling emotionally,” said Sarah Scott’s principal, Scotia Brown. “They’re stressed because they’re falling behind in their work. Or they’re stressed because of the conditions they’re living with at home.”

Even before the coronavirus struck, kids at Sarah Scott faced significant obstacles that compounded the normal social challenges and surging hormones of middle school. They live in Vigo County, which has the state’s highest rate of child poverty and high rates of child neglect. Nearly 90% of students qualified for free or reduced-fee lunches. Some showed up needing to shower and change at the school, which has a food pantry that also offers clothes and hygiene products.

Things got more difficult for students when covid threw Sarah Scott’s normal schedule into disarray. Initially, the school went totally remote, then moved to partially in-person for the start of the 2020-21 school year. When covid spiked in October, Sarah Scott went remote again because not enough substitute teachers could fill in for quarantining staff. Since January, students have been spending part of each week in the school building, with no plans as of early March to open fully.

Kids were given laptops to use at home. But internet access can be problematic.

“Internet has been the worst,” said Samantha Riley, mother of seventh grader Mariah Pointer. “So many people are on it, it shuts down all the time.”

When that happens, she uses the Wi-Fi emitting from the school bus that sits in front of her apartment complex, one of several parked around the community to fill the gaps.

Even when the internet works, though, keeping kids on task at home isn’t easy. Heather Raley said she often cries from the stress of trying to make her eighth grade daughter engage online. “It just seems like we’re always butting heads over this,” Raley said. “It’s just a bigger battle getting the work done.”

As in many other communities, students are falling behind academically. Some don’t do any of their e-learning activities. Sarah Scott’s reports to child protective services for educational neglect — when caregivers aren’t getting their children to either in-person or remote classes — have more than tripled this school year.

Brown said she also worries about physical neglect and abuse, which is harder to detect when interacting with students remotely. “If you’re in an abusive home and you have to be there five days out of the week because you’re doing remote learning, you’re in that environment even more,” she said.

More time at home can also mean doing without necessities, including food.

The school helps by offering free breakfasts and lunches for in-person students and to-go lunches on remote days. Sometimes, the principal delivers boxes of groceries to students’ homes. The school recently secured a microwave for one family and an inflatable mattress for a student who’d been sharing a bed with his grandmother.

For some kids, the stress of the pandemic has worsened emotional problems and mental illness. Recently, a former Sarah Scott student who had moved out of state logged into her former teacher’s virtual class to say she planned to kill herself. The school contacted police, who checked on her. Referrals for suicidal students are up fourfold, Brown said.

School social worker Nichelle Campbell-Miller said it’s been tough counseling kids online or through text messages.

“I am all about building relationships and being in person and being able to dap you up or give you a hug and be like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’” she said, using a term for various greetings like fist bumps or elaborate handshakes. “So being online is extremely difficult for me, because you can’t really tell the tone of your student. When I’m talking to you in person, I can read your body language and I can gauge where you’re at.”

Right now, she said, the psychological well-being of her middle schoolers is even more important than education.

Many students, such as eighth grader Trea Johnson, come up against challenges on both fronts. Trea transferred to Sarah Scott two days before covid ended in-person learning.

“We struggle with school anyway,” said his mom, Kathy Poff. “Then when this pandemic came along, it just knocked our feet out from under us.”

His grades plunged. He began to hate school, Poff said. He didn’t attend his daily video meetings with his teachers. His mother fought with him to complete his online assignments.

“I usually get pretty bored,” said Trea, whose long, straight hair sometimes falls over his eyes.

Poff found him a therapist he meets with once a week. She said his mood and academic productivity have improved. He wants to be a computer programmer and has been coding in his spare time lately. She also moved his computer into her bedroom so she could better monitor him and has started paying him to do his schoolwork.

“I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be a 13-year-old going through this pandemic,” said Poff, 51, a single mother. “They’re going through changes anyway, adjusting to adolescence and figuring out who they are, and they don’t even have a social group to figure that out.”

Goulding, the math teacher, said she’s glad she and her co-workers can help provide stability and continuity during this trying period. One recent night, for example, she got a call from a truant boy’s grandmother, who said she was in poor health and raising him alone. The next day, the principal and social worker picked him up and drove him to school.

Still, Goulding lamented not seeing her most vulnerable students on the days when they are remote.

“How do I check on my kids? How do I make sure they’re eating? How do I make sure,” she paused to compose herself, her voice quavering, “they’re safe?

“You’re no longer thinking about, ‘How are they doing on their polynomials?’ You’re thinking about, you know, the reality of life.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).

Indiana School Goes Extra Mile to Help Vulnerable Kids Weather Pandemic published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

[newagesispage]

                                                                  JUNE      2021

 The Rib Page

 Head out for the dates on the final tour of The Monkees that we still have left. Mike and Micky are saying bye bye, bye bye, bye bye.

*****

Days of our Lives has been renewed for 2 more seasons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*****

The last CONAN will be on TBS on June 24. We’ll be waiting to see ya on HBO MAX.

*****

Condom sales are up 24%.** They are saying it is the start of slutty summer??**There are reports that STD’s are on the rise in certain counties.

*****

Hemp Hemp Hurray!- Tommy Chong

*****

An old species of a giant tortoise on the Galapagos was found. Tests match a tortoise not seen since 1906. Scientists are now looking for a mate for the female to revive the species.

*****

Black-ish will end after season 8** Ellen is calling it quits and will end her show next year.** Thursdays will be Wolf night. With the addition of Law and Order: For the defense, NBC will have an entire L&O night! A friend said, “It’s almost as if the shows are made to lull the elderly to sleep.” I see it every day with the elderly: Law and Order on all day as they nap.

*****

American Housewife and Rebel have been cancelled.

*****

Bill Maher tested positive for Covid as did most of the Yankees. They were fully vaccinated.** Gov. Newsom was in the Kimmel audience talking about the lottery in California for those who were vaccinated.

*****

Ewan McGregor was so WOW! as Halston!!

*****

Illinois may be getting about 110 new pot shops.

*****

Breeders got picked up for season 3.

*****

The Piglet, Nick Lachey won the 5th season of The Masked Singer.

*****

Can’t wait for Val, the doc about Val Kilmer.

*****

John Dickerson will leave 60 minutes and concentrate more on the Morning shows. He has been promoted to chief political analyst and senior national correspondent.

*****

In Texas there are more barriers to riding a motorcycle than wearing a gun. They seem to encourage people to have guns on them with no training and no license.

*****

Why do we still have to hear anything about Meghan McCain? She tries to shame Kamala Harris for her “long weekend” comment as she is out gambling and partying for the Memorial day weekend. What does that have to do with honoring the fallen?

*****

Bill Hader was given the Masters of Comedy award at the USC Comedy Fest.

*****

Cellmate secrets is coming to Lifetime on June 4 with host, Angie Harmon.

*****

JP Morgan Chase collected about 1.5 billion in overdraft fees in 2020.

*****

Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch will come out on October 22. The film stars Bill Murray, Elisabeth Moss, Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalomet, Owen Wilson, Angelica Huston, Jeffrey Wright, Saorse Ronan, Tilda Swinton and Benecio del Toro.

*****

Billboard awards giving tribute to Pink as a “legend.” What? Nothing against Pink or any of the other people that are honored too young in the award shows but… really?? There are so many mature legends that get forgotten that deserve some love for their well lived talent. It seems way too obvious that they just want the promo of someone still quite popular for the ratings.

*****

Did ya know that St. Chad’s church in Shropshire has the real tombstone of the fake Ebeneezer Scrooge?

*****

Politics is war without bloodshed, war is politics with bloodshed. –Huey Newton** The Black Panthers had it right in so many ways. I would love to see buildings and programs again named in memory of the slain victims of police violence.

*****

Kroger paid its CEO $22mil, but can’t find the $ to give its essential workers hazard pay during a pandemic? Disgusting! –Robert Reich

*****

Ariana Grande married Dalton Gomez.

*****

25% of Americans think Trump is really President, 25% of Germans supported Hitler.

*****

People in this country have to be told not to put gasoline in baggies? India is begging for more vaccines and many in this country have to be bribed to get a shot to help themselves and their fellow man??  I love U America but there are some really selfish, stupid people here.** But, we also must remember that the poor may be a little fearful of the vaccine. Many cannot believe that they can get something for nothing. Free vaccine? Many hard working poor never get a break and have to wonder what the catch is.

*****

Days alert: Xander gets better and better. Thank you writers for his lines like when he spoke of birds of a feather as he was in an intimate moment, “Why not flock?”** Ken Corday said he was “on my knees, begging” for Days renewal. Jackee’ Harry (Paulina) and Robert Scott Johnson (Ben) have signed new contracts. Shatner congratulated them on Twitter.** Gwen and Xander both living in the old Horton house? Will he find out her secret?  Oh my.. not them together??** EJ is on his way back and will be played by Dan Feuerrlegel on June 9.** Eric is on the way back. It looks like Jonny Dimera is all grown up and will join his sister. ** Word is that Paulina will live at 227. Chloe and Philip may get together yet.** Will a dead body wash up in Salem??

*****

So $10 billion for a Jeff Bezos space firm bailout?? Is that true??

*****

From 1980-1993, the Israeli government prohibited artists from using the colors of the Palestinian flag in their work.

*****

Chevron got into trouble for their pollution problems. Steven Donziger who helped take them down has been on house arrest for 2 years. Why? He is begging to be prosecuted.

*****

I am really routing for Naomi Osaka. Nobody should be forced to respond to ridiculous questions from reporters. I get that it is part of their job but if one is willing to pay the fine, who cares??  I can’t imagine being exhausted and putting up with the nonsense. It reminds me of running up to victims of a tragedy and getting in their face. We can communicate by social media now. I am all about writers but use your heads. Much like Marshawn Lynch, it is time to stand up!! Protect your mental health!!** Well, this updated just before June. Officials warned her that she would be expelled so she left the French open. She was honest about her anxiety. I see this every day. When will people be allowed to truly be themselves with no penalty?? I think this when I see a restaurant worker forced to wear a humiliating costume or a cashier with a giant name tag with ridiculous advertising slogans. Yes, a company or event is paying you so they should have their promotion but put yourself in their shoes. These are all varying degrees of the same problem. Why must we be pushed into the same lane all the time??

*****

It costs about 2 mil to remove 4 statues due to litigation and safety for the removers.

*****

Hooray for the Texas Dems who walked out to block the outrageous voting bill there. I mean, amongst other things, the GOP want to make it EASIER for a judge to throw out votes based on ALLEGATIONS. They say the removal of hours for Sunday voting was just a “mistake.” There is talk of not paying the Dems but I don’t think they can do that. The GOP claims there are hundreds of incidents of voter fraud and they will prove it when the time is right. Um…..

*****

Bruce Dern, Olivia Munn and Keith David will star in The Gateway.

*****

The complete story of the Gettysburg address is in post- production. Look for voice work from David Strathairn, Cary Elwes, Sam Elliott, Michael C. Hall, Dermot Mulroney, Keith David, Matthew Broderick, Lili Taylor, Victor Garber, Ed Asner, Jason Alexander and Lois Smith.

*****

Was anyone surprised when the Son of Sam doc on Netflix wound around to Manson? I guess it depends on the books that you have read.

*****

Oh Andrew Yang, I have become so disillusioned with you.

*****

A Colorado man charged with murdering his wife submitted her absentee ballot in the 2020 election. He thought, “other guys” were cheating so he would give Trump another vote. –Reid Wilson

*****

The commonwealth of Kentucky has never elected a black person to federal office. –Charles Booker

*****

Have ya seen Woke with LaMorne Morris and J.B. Smoove?

*****

M. Night Shyamalan is back with Old.

*****

The Friends had their reunion.** China cut about 6 minutes out of the broadcast.

*****

Matthew Modine is running for SAG President again with his running mate, Joely Fisher.

*****

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. –Blaise Pascal Pensees** Are you sick of hearing about the angry white men on shooting rampages. It is alarming how we always hear about how everyone knew of their anger or that they had been looked at before and just left to go on their merry way. C’mon law enforcement, stop picking on minorities and old women and concentrate on the real threat.

*****

Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Jon Hamm, David Harbour, Benecio del Toro, Ray Liotta, Don Cheadle and Kieran Culkin will star in No Sudden Move on July 1.

*****

Can’t wait for the release of the 3 LP vinyl collection, Jonathon Winters: Unearthed. Look for it on Record Store Day, June 12.

*****

Concerning Marjorie Taylor Greene’s abuse:  “I used to work as a bartender. These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time.” : AOC** In answer to MTG’s Jewish star comparison, some have started wearing “not vaccinated” stars. What the fuck is wrong with people?

*****

Could Drew Barrymore and Dylan Farrow be related? They look so much alike.

*****

Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden got together with their wives and talked of old times. Much was made of the photo of that meeting that was released. The Biden’s looked like giants.

*****

Word is that Arizona congressman Andy Biggs was one of the main organizers of the insurrection. GOP Rep from Oregon, Mike Nearman, was caught on camera letting the culprits into the capitol on Jan. 6. TREASON! When will the wheels of justice get to them?** Newt Gingrich said of the Biden administration: They are “attacking people of traditional values,” by flying the “gay flag at American embassies.”** When will this latest religious fervor die down?** Word is that Tiffany Trump and Vanessa Trump had flings with secret service.

*****

Fuck you Trump, you left us on the battlefield bloody and alone. –Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean. He explained that “We followed this guy’s lead and never questioned it.”  I mean what kind of sheep are these guys? Can they not think for themselves?** There is talk that Trump’s justice department was spying on reporters. ** Hey Kimmel: Can you stop talking about Trump? Enough already!! And.. Reality is boring? What?

*****

On Trump: I imagine it is a chilling final turn of the plot. His world is coming to an end. He will never have another good day. Loser label will haunt him, the law will pursue him. Mental illness will hobble him. His properties will bankrupt him. –Peter Marks

*****

So, the terrorist GOP in the senate does not want Jan. 6 investigated. Of course they do not want to shine a light on their wrong doings. They say they love law enforcement and then they shit on them like this. The very people that were killed or injured trying to protect them mean nothing to them. ** Mitch McConnell thinks he can stop the full truth from coming out. He cannot. The House can empower a bipartisan select congressional committee to investigate the insurrection. The select committee would also have stronger subpoena power because GOP members can’t block subpoenas.

*****

Rand Paul is to medicine what Flashdance is to welding. – Rob Reiner

*****

“We birthed a nation from nothing, I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yes, we have Native Americans but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture. It was born of the people who came here, pursuing religious liberty.” –Rick Santorum** CNN has dropped him as a political contributor.** Only a fuckboy scumbag could be this clueless and wrong. –Michael Ealy

*****

The latest sexual misconduct news: Danny Masterson will stand trial on 3 rape charges.** Bill Cosby was denied parole.

*****

Trump is ignored and irrelevant on pretty much every major social media venue. –Mia Farrow

*****

The George Floyd family came to the White House on the 1 year anniversary of his death.

*****

The Kennedy Center honors have been given and will air on June 6 on CBS. This year we honor Dick Van Dyke, Joan Baez, Midori, Garth Brooks and Debbie Allen.

*****

Since 2000, the wealth of billionaires has increased by 238%. – Robert Reich

*****

The moon, in its orbit is spiraling away from Earth by about the width of 2 fingers every year. –Neil deGrasse Tyson

*****

Why is everybody surprised about the UFO revelations? Of course there are UFO’s. Nobody is saying they are filled with space aliens. Another country could be testing them. There are always things we cannot explain.** We also can’t be surprised that the Q types fight the UFO stories. Once scientific voices of reason come into play, they turn away.

*****

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced their class: The early influence awards go to Kraftwerk, Charley Patton and Gil Scott- Heron. Music excellence goes to LL Cool J, Billy Preston and Randy Rhoads. The Ahmet Ertegun award goes to Clarence Avant. The Performers honored will be Tina Turner, Carole King, The Go-Go’s, Jay-Z, Foo Fighters and Todd Rundgren. The 36th annual show will take place on October 30th.

*****

We are all just rapidly decaying meat bags. – Mr. Griffin on AP Bio

*****

Scientists have developed the whitest white: Ba so4

*****

John Mulaney is back on stage with the stand up.

*****

Killers of the flower moon is finally being filmed. The Scorsese film stars Leo, DeNiro, Jesse Plemons and Lily Gladstone.

*****

2 out of every 3 people in the U.S. get their drinking water from rivers. Support American Rivers.org

*****

House Dems passed the pregnant workers fairness act. Employers with more than 15 employees and public sector employees must make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers

*****

HBO has shown a first look at House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones.

*****

Bridgerton is spinning off Queen Charlotte.

*****

Purple lipstick is a really hot item.

*****

Peoria and Scranton are the hub of getting an extra family. JB Smoove

*****

Yamiche Alcindor is the new moderator of Washington Week. I miss Robert Costa but if they had to move on, I had fingers crossed for Weijia Jang or Yamiche.** Costa went on Twitter for the first time since 2020 to congratulate her. I can’t wait for his book with Woodward!!!!!!!

*****

The firing squad is back in South Carolina.

*****

So, there is a worker shortage?? Perhaps if we made it easier to get hired, things would work better. Can owners and managers actually look at a person and go with their gut? Can we get rid of drug tests and long online applications and psych exams? The $ spent on administrative work for hiring is ruining this country. A normal person has to jump thru hoops just to wash dishes anymore. We are not ll cookie cutter people. Often there are no rewards for loyal employees, not to mention benefits. And the laziness of employers who will then not do anything about bad employees that disrupt the work place is astounding. C’mon, give people a chance and then hold them to account and reward the hard workers. Most everyone I know has these same complaints. Who wants to go thru that?

*****

Medina Spirit failed a drug test after the Kentucky Derby.** You know who doesn’t care about who wins the Kentucky Derby? The horses. It’s time to ban horse racing. -Larry Charles

*****

I’ve had a wonderful time, but tonight wasn’t it. –Groucho Marx

*****

If you don’t need a mask because God will protect you, why do you need a gun?- anonymous

*****

How shady is the GOP when it comes to these recounts to support the big lie? Taxpayer $ is being used for this and now there will have to be new voting machines. Since the auditors have mishandled the machines and insisted on passwords, Maricopa County will have to start over!! Can we keep reminding the public that this is costing us all a lot of $???** Even the majority of republicans say that the audits are keeping the base energized for the next election so mission accomplished

*****

Tulsa survivors spoke in front of congress as a reparations bill was introduced.

*****

Men who think they can decide for the women who carry the consequences of their ejaculations that life begins at conception, need to put their $ where their misogynist, hypocritical mouths are with laws that require instantaneous and permanent child support or shut the fuck up. –Bradley Whitford

*****

It is estimated that there are about 50 billion birds on the planet.

*****

Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton are bringing us The Protégé.

*****

There has been a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after 10 days of fighting. Well done on the Middle East, Jared!!

*****

Andrea Mitchell, a hard ass working journalist seems to be slowing down.

*****

Legos has added some LGBTQ characters.

*****

Can we put Finn Wittrock and Leo in a film together?

*****

Check out the Traveling Diary Tour.

*****

Jamie Foxx has some mega product placement in the new, Dad stop embarrassing me!

*****

Brooklyn 99 will air 2 episodes a week in this final season.

*****

Three Doctors who treated Navalny are missing.

*****

Laverne Cox will be the new host of E!’s red carpet coverage. Giuliana Rancic has left.

*****

Look for the book Bull Twit … and whatnot from George Wallace.

*****

R.I.P. Vernon Jordon, Ed Ward, Tawny Kitaen, Olympia Dukakis, Bo, the Obama’s dog, the latest mass shooting and stabbing victims, Roger Hawkins, Paul Mooney, Shock 6, Eric Carle, Charles Grodin, Diamond Girl Taylor, John Davis, Kevin Clark , Jim Clendenen, B.J. Thomas, Buddy Van Horn and Norman Lloyd.

[togetherinsolitude]

I write to you from the night’s solitude in the privacy of my home. Although I’ve been self-isolating since the 12th of march, my first diary entrance mentioning the pandemic was on the 24th. This virus made a globally shared awareness and reality that I’ve been busy failing trying to escape. So I have been quiet, spending a lot of time in my head, which has its own special pleasures and terrible nightmares. At this point, I have said little in response when it comes to the crisis, although I have been listening a lot in the sudden boom of zoom and jitsi meetings. So let me share my thoughts on this topic that I dread to you here, in an attempt to be together with you and co-exist for a while.

So, I am staying at home these days. I am grateful to have a home where I feel safe, loved and warm. My thoughts are often with those who are locked in with their abusers, with the question of battling domestic violence. I don’t know what else to do than spread the info of hotlines and shelters online and plaster them on the streets.

For me, my home is where I can be with and alone at the same time. It’s one of my places for solitude and privacy. For many I guess, like those with kids, a bit of privacy is rare. I don’t think my upstairs neighbors get much of that these days, with five little monsters stuck inside their three room apartment. I need solitude to stay sane and happy, like I need solitude’s opposite too. That is a harder to come by these days. Of course, I miss going out and being around my friends and family, but at the same time it’s like we’re actually talking more than we used to. For a while, I felt frozen since plans I had are not possible now, worse, they didn’t seem to be relevant anymore or even make sense. It will remain frozen I guess, until this thing has blown over.

At the moment, here in the Netherlands we are three weeks into the Corona measures, but we don’t really experience a heavily enforced lock down. We can still go outside, we’re not allowed to school together or move around in groups larger than three, but I haven’t seen any cops giving out fines yet where I live. There are no megaphones every hour urging people to stay indoors like in Spain and Italy. Most of us are just following government’s advice. Few people are wearing masks, not even in the hospitals, only the ones working with the corona patients. People look at you strange when wear one, I’m wondering how to make it hip, because you cannot know when you carry something and it’s better to be safe than sorry. I saw a woman in the market yesterday who was selecting lemons wearing a glove. The alcohol sprayed on the bars of the obligated shopping carts rubs off on people’s hands, but I don’t think it’s enough to keep all the germs at bay. They don’t clean the produce and so I thought it was a nice gesture of her.

The Dutch government has been terribly slow in responding to this crisis for which we have been warned so well in advance. These white people are acting superior as usual, thinking they are untouchable using words like ‘intelligent lockdown’, as if the Dutch are smarter than everyone else in the world, meanwhile ignoring good practices and experiences from the Asian countries who already passed the peak of this crisis. There is some security for those of us with the right residency permits, to fall into a shadow of the dwindling welfare state’s social net that is still catching many who end up not being able to work with special measures for freelancers. Yes, it is weird how they conjured up all that money to give to the people not working right now. Since that kind of money is just there, then why can’t we just get the basic income? No matter how wealthy this country is, our government refuses to support the southern European states. Ikke ikke ikke en de rest kan stikken, or me me me and the rest can choke. Another crisis, another selfish response from the stupid people in power.

The prime minister and his liberal party is gaining support, even my mother who despises the party thinks he’s doing well. I haven’t watched any of his press conferences, cannot stand their voices speaking with those potatoes in their throats. They’re still just fascists to me, hiding under their polite smiles, saying suddenly there is a society, while they built for no such thing. Their hypocritical faces nauseate me, as they’re praising the health care workers whose budgets they’ve been cutting and cutting for years on end, as if they haven’t been exploiting all these “essential” workers of the world, these people they call low-skilled in normal times while they continue to break down them and the other workforce they depend on from our undocumented circuits. I haven’t heard anything about whether the Dutch state is still deporting refugees, in Germany at least last week they were still organizing flights to Iran for that. The family prison in Zeist, whose function is literally to keep the strangers locked up (vreemdelingen bewaring), remains open 24/7, although their services and hours may differ due to COVID-19. I wonder if they wear any masks or stopped sharing cells.

A few days ago, when I was biking through the city center after almost three weeks at home, I saw there were still shops open selling trinkets, clothes and chocolate. What’s essential next to food? The local feminist bookshop took to delivering and reading out loud online, the anarchist library opens a window for pick up on the weekends and set up a solidarity kitchen serving free food every day. Most of the food supply to the homeless people in the city is cut off. The municipality is championing the volunteers for picking up their slack, without acknowledging they are slacking when it comes to support the vulnerable groups. The shop that sells the wool I like is closed, so I’m making due with what I have left. My mother thinks I’m bored out of my mind and had a puzzle delivered to our apartment. At some point I picked up an audiobook and let myself disappear to a world with witches and dragons, feeling like a teenager again, while looping soft threads of wool with a hook to make a waffled scarf. What’s the English word for crochet? in French from croc means hook, from Dutch too it translates as hooking. What’s the word?

I don’t mind the at home life. Although it’s hard facing the demons of my administration, I think I’m skilling up in my reproductive work, yes, taking care and trying to find structure, tweaking my rhythm. We started making plans for food in advance, are cooking most days and doing the laundry regularly instead of it piling up for weeks. I’ve even been consistently picking up all the stuff I tend to leave behind me in trails. I’m up late, but sleep as long as I like. Anyhow, it’s not a bad thing to slow down, it’s been a revolutionary cry for almost a century, because slowing down is a strategy to resist, refuse, rattle and collapse this sick system we live under. I wouldn’t mind to keep this part of how the virus has affected me, giving me time to rest and reflect when I thought I didn’t need it.

Now, I’ll have to think about work again, but since I don’t need the money, I promised myself to take things easy for a while. In the first week of isolation, I rearranged our guest room to make another place to work aside from the living room table. It’s not finished yet, because the table needs screws and also extra shelves would be nice. I want to go buy those things, but don’t want to go to the construction market and line up with all those other people. Infections are rising and we don’t have enough tests and beds for all those people that are going to get sick. So far, it’s mostly the south struggling and there are still beds in the north.

Better don’t risk contamination before things are past the peak. Patience never hurt anyone.

5 april, Utrecht