tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203780662024-03-19T04:47:26.360-05:00The X PerspectiveGen X is moving into leadership... are we ready?Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.comBlogger352125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-82136995412224086902017-02-07T23:27:00.001-06:002017-02-07T23:27:47.205-06:00Justice WinsI love this cartoon. Justice does not always win in this country, but it's great to see it depicted in this fabulous way!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIrDrq6r-T92LapJRnWoawO1rIq4rNL6okDxsijNemkLarywQWMwCtB40QWGZB31Tz0YdceiQqtO88cWxlPn3Ooc7jJfhXVEndzlh06f693bNhUF5N3zcY613_bOD6f3873x6Zw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-07+at+11.26.21+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIrDrq6r-T92LapJRnWoawO1rIq4rNL6okDxsijNemkLarywQWMwCtB40QWGZB31Tz0YdceiQqtO88cWxlPn3Ooc7jJfhXVEndzlh06f693bNhUF5N3zcY613_bOD6f3873x6Zw/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-02-07+at+11.26.21+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-31554420509344391782017-01-22T21:33:00.001-06:002017-01-22T21:33:10.133-06:00Political AntidoteFor folks who are looking for something apolitical this weekend after all the inauguration & protest news, here's my kid at a gymnastics competition. Enjoy!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1OcjlKccA_bTsAID8Gy4VyVo324xtYwZrd4E3KAUK_DnbWb5NzKEdeU9Yw7IrhaOktKOpVq5jOok-8ycI5KL4IUBiZIIkn0fEM9-g4FAZxSEIJ3trvh83FDwz0Kpix9wOMmHJw/s1600/16196024_10109004848463430_4109275739027140659_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1OcjlKccA_bTsAID8Gy4VyVo324xtYwZrd4E3KAUK_DnbWb5NzKEdeU9Yw7IrhaOktKOpVq5jOok-8ycI5KL4IUBiZIIkn0fEM9-g4FAZxSEIJ3trvh83FDwz0Kpix9wOMmHJw/s320/16196024_10109004848463430_4109275739027140659_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-35460017013485236412016-12-29T22:40:00.003-06:002016-12-29T22:41:27.740-06:00This we can do!Had a great evening tonight hanging out with some girlfriends who are also politically-minded. We had a wide-ranging discussion about local, state and national politics, focused mostly on what we're doing to <i>stand up, keep fighting </i>in 2017.<br />
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One friend asked if pulling together a "Women for [candidate]" group made sense for a current race. I said <i>absolutely</i> - women's issues and women's collectivism are still a thing!<br />
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Hillary lost. It is what it is. What we do <i>next</i> is continue to work hard to ensure that women's voices are heard at all levels of decision-making, and that women are in positions to be decision-makers.<br />
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This we can do!<br />
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<br />Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-53603819261234219452016-12-27T22:52:00.004-06:002016-12-29T22:41:47.734-06:00Holiday DetoxThere is a lot that I love about the Christmas holiday season - the lights are at the top of the list, for sure - but I don't revel in the over-abundance of it. It truly can be too dang much.<br />
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So it felt like a fine time for me to give up sugar, caffeine, alcohol, & dairy. I decided to do this during our 2-week winter break from school. Two weeks seems like a reasonable amount of time - long enough to be meaningful and short enough to be doable. So far, so good. We'll see if & how long it lasts after the two weeks are up.<br />
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I think detoxing is a good way to honor Christ. Going all-out at Christmas never felt right to me. It's certainly not what Jesus asked of us or wanted for us. I can't imagine he would smile at all the STUFF under our tree! (Maybe we should treat Advent a little more like Lent - scale back for a month before the big day?)<br />
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Detoxing over the holiday season actually feels pretty good. :)<br />
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<br />Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-2769079864047397502016-12-19T12:28:00.001-06:002016-12-29T22:42:03.692-06:00Integration = Gen X is Less RacistSeems intuitive to assert that integration would lead to less racism, as it is clear that racism typically thrives in absence of knowledge. But apparently there is research to back it up. I was just looking around to see what's out there about Gen X right now, and came across this on Wikipedia:<br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In the US, Generation X was the first cohort to grow up post-integration. They were described in a marketing report by </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Specialty Retail</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> as the kids who “lived the </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Movement_in_the_United_States" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Civil Rights Movement in the United States">civil-rights movement.</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">" They were among the first children to be </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desegregation_busing" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Desegregation busing">bused</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> to attain </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_integration" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Racial integration">integration</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i> in the public school system. In the 1990s, demographer William Strauss reported Gen Xers were “by any measure the least racist of today's generation</i>s.”</span><br />
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It doesn't surprise me, though we have to admit that the "integration" we experienced as kids wasn't always done well. Being in the same school is not the same as being in the same classes and actually working together. But nonetheless, it's interesting to see research showing that our exposure through integration has led to less racism among our cohort.<br />
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I absolutely believe that the best school for kids is one in which there is no racial majority. Where multiple races are represented in significant numbers, my own experience has been that it kind of takes race off the table for kids. If there's no racial majority, there's no racial culture in the school, and the school gets to create its own culture. I've spent the last 10 years in schools with this demographic mix, and I believe in it.Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-5368516792594200742016-12-11T22:40:00.004-06:002016-12-29T22:42:15.239-06:00"How the Trump Stole Christmas"<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">I have some ambivalence about this poem where it gets mean, and certainly would not have written it the same way myself. But the fundamental nature of it is awesome. I love when folks take good literature & update it for humor and/or social commentary. This fits that bill. </span><br />
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<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">How the Trump Stole Christmas</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">By John Pavlovitz</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">In a land where the states are united, they claim,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">in a sky-scraping tower adorned with his name,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">lived a terrible, horrible, devious chump,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">the bright orange miscreant known as the Trump.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">This Trump he was mean, such a mean little man,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">with the tiniest heart and two tinier hands,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and a thin set of lips etched in permanent curl,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and a sneer and a scowl and contempt for the world.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He looked down from his perch and he grinned ear to ear,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and he thought, “I could steal the election this year!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It’d be rather simple, it’s so easily won,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">I’ll just make them believe that their best days are done!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Yes, I’ll make them believe that it’s all gone to Hell,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and I’ll be Jerk Messiah and their souls they will sell.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And I’ll use lots of words disconnected from truth,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">but I’ll say them with style so they won’t ask for proof.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">I’ll toss out random platitudes, phrases, and such,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">They’re so raised on fake news that it won’t matter much!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">They won’t question the how to, the what, why, or when,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">I will make their America great once again!”</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The Trump told them to fear, they should fear he would say,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">“They’ve all come for your jobs, they’ll all take them away.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">You should fear every Muslim and Mexican too,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">every brown, black, and tan one, everyone who votes blue.”</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And he fooled all the Christians, he fooled them indeed,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He just trotted out Jesus, that’s all Jesus folk need.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And celebrity preachers they all crowned him as king,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Tripping over themselves just to kiss the Trump’s ring.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And he spoke only lies just as if they were true,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Until they believed all of those lies were true too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He repeated and Tweeted and he blustered and spit,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And he mislead and fibbed — and he just made up sh*t.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the media laughed but they printed each line,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">thinking “He’ll never will win, in the end we’ll be fine.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">So they chased every headline, bold typed every claim,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">‘Till the fake news and real news they looked just the same.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the scared folk who listened, they devoured each word,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Yes, they ate it all up every word that they heard,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">petrified that their freedom was under attack,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">trusting Trump he would take their America back.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">From the gays and from ISIS, he’d take it all back,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Take it back from the Democrats, fat cats, and blacks.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And so hook, line, and sinker they all took the bait,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">all his lies about making America great.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Now the Pant-suited One she was smart and prepared,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">she was brilliant and steady but none of them cared,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">no they cared not to see all the work that she’d done,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">or the fact they the Trump had not yet done thing one.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">They could only shout “Emails!”, yes “Emails!” they’d shout,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">because Fox News had told them — and Fox News had clout.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the Pant-suited One she was slandered no end,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and a lie became truth she could never defend.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the Trump watched it all go according to plan —</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">a strong woman eclipsed by an insecure man.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And November the 8th arrived, finally it came,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">like a slow-moving storm but it came just the same.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And Tuesday became Wednesday as those days will do,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the night turned to morning and the nightmare came true,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">With millions of non-voters still in their beds,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Yes, the Trump he had done it, just like he had said.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the Trumpers they trumped, how they trumped when he won,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">All the racists and bigots; deplorable ones,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">they crawled out from the woodwork, came out to raise Hell,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">they came out to be hateful and hurtful as well.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">With slurs and with road signs, with spray paint and Tweets,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">with death threats to neighbors and taunts on the street.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the grossest of grossness they hurled on their peers,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">while the Trump he said zilch — for the first time in years.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">But he Tweeted at Hamilton, he Tweeted the Times,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And he trolled Alec Baldwin a few hundred times,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and he pouted a pout like a petulant kid,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">thinking this is what Presidents actually did,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">thinking he could still be a perpetual jerk,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">terrified to learn he had to actually work,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">work for every American, not just for a few,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">not just for the white ones — there was much more to do.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He now worked for the Muslims and Mexicans too,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">for the brown, black, and tan ones, and the ones who vote blue.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">They were all now his bosses, now they all had a say,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and those nasty pant-suited ones were here to stay.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the Trump he soon realized that he didn’t win,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">He had gotten the thing — and the thing now had him.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And it turned out the Trump was a little too late,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">for America was already more than quite great,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">not because of the sameness, the opposite’s true,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It’s greatness far more than just red, white, and blue,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It’s straight, gay, and female — it’s Gentile and Jew,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It’s Transgender and Christian and Atheist too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It’s Asians, Caucasians of every kind,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The disabled and abled, the deaf and the blind,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It’s immigrants, Muslims, and brave refugees,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">It’s Liberals with bleeding hearts fixed to their sleeves.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And we are all staying, we’re staying right here,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and we’ll be the great bane of the Trump for four years.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And we’ll be twice as loud as the loudness of hate,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">be the greatness that makes our America great.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">And the Trump’s loudest boasts they won’t ever obscure,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">over two million more of us — voted for her.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">###</span>Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-44928270084192061112016-11-25T12:13:00.000-06:002016-12-29T22:42:28.447-06:00Thanksgiving in the 21st CenturyI have several friends now who won't celebrate Thanksgiving, because they see it as a celebration of genocide.<br />
<br />
I think gratitude in general is too important not to devote a holiday to, but I also believe we should look at the real history, not the mythology, as we celebrate each year. To that end, I was deeply grateful to find that the pastors of the Downtown Congregations who put on the Inter-Faith Thanksgiving Service in Minneapolis every year apparently agreed with me this year.<br />
<br />
Yesterday's service was incredible and deeply moving. Rev. Bailey from the host church, Plymouth Congregational, named the issue in the welcome. She invited us to reflect not only on what the Wampanoag did for the Pilgrims, but also the centuries of colonialism and genocide that followed. And used those words. She even included a reference to the water protectors & #NoDAPL.<br />
<br />
Rev Tim Hart-Anderson, of Westminster Presbyterian, gave the sermon, and invited Rev Jim Bear Jacobs of Church of all Nations to join him to bring the Native perspective front & center. Telling to Thanksgiving story from the Wampanoag perspective was cool. They talked about the story of Jesus healing the lepers in Samaria & all the reasons we don't stop to give thanks - too busy, too afraid, too entitled. Indeed.<br />
<br />
Rev. Lebens-Englund from St. Mark's Episcopal read President Obama's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, and invited everyone to stand & hold hands for it. Seemed weird at first, but <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/11/23/presidential-proclamation-thanksgiving-day-2016">the proclamation</a> was beautiful & worth it.<br />
<br />
The service included scriptures from the Torah, the Qur'an, the Gospel and the Psalms. Passages were read in Hebrew and Arabic, in addition to English. The service also included Latin and Lenape. I loved it. The interfaith nature of the service has grown over 40 years from being Christian + Temple Israel, just sticking to the Old Testament, into a service that pulls in multiple faith traditions and finds the links among them all.<br />
<br />
Most meaningful worship I've experienced in a while. I am thankful.<br />
<br />Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-13637973488835438542016-11-25T11:37:00.003-06:002016-11-25T11:47:09.168-06:00Segregation & The CityMy friend Kirsten is a local historian, and she often has cool projects happening. This one is interesting - mapping Minneapolis by "restrictive deed covenants" - meaning the real redlining that happened in our fair city. Not enough to just know that it happened - Kirsten's group is showing exactly where & when.<br />
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<a href="http://www.startribune.com/mapping-prejudice-project-traces-history-of-discriminatory-deeds-in-minneapolis/402943496/">http://www.startribune.com/mapping-prejudice-project-traces-history-of-discriminatory-deeds-in-minneapolis/402943496/</a></div>
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It's so easy for us to write off segregation in the 21st century as all about choice, but it's not. As Professor Ed Goetz of the U MN's Center for Urban & Regional Affairs put it: "It's important to understand how our cities came to look the way they are. We relegate them to natural market outcomes without reference to the very engineering and intrusive interventions that these things are."</div>
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Indeed. </div>
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Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-63370275907780377112016-11-24T22:28:00.004-06:002016-11-24T22:29:03.800-06:00Wonder WomanRecently found this fabulous Wonder Woman t-shirt:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Rz52bpwTKzZ_Gsu8TyeQjJ-VaB_4QPdAFnl9mLiuf1ZgM4W9dz29LAm8Kxesy13lEIqerTE7cHpeKaXmFOrbMs5p3FdwmqYhKYiy-m5sbHmq_jPsi1TEISM5BJtQOnRB86qbQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-11-24+at+10.27.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6Rz52bpwTKzZ_Gsu8TyeQjJ-VaB_4QPdAFnl9mLiuf1ZgM4W9dz29LAm8Kxesy13lEIqerTE7cHpeKaXmFOrbMs5p3FdwmqYhKYiy-m5sbHmq_jPsi1TEISM5BJtQOnRB86qbQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-11-24+at+10.27.49+PM.png" /></a></div>
<br />
It says so much in one image!<br />
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<a href="https://teechip.com/wwpnks#id=4&c=161616&sid=gildan-50-50-hoodie&s=front">https://teechip.com/wwpnks#id=4&c=161616&sid=gildan-50-50-hoodie&s=front</a><br />
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<br />Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-53422390597930313752016-11-24T21:35:00.000-06:002016-11-24T22:06:01.793-06:0020 Lessons from the 20th Century<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 10.5pt;">Yale historian and Holocaust expert Timothy
Snyder wrote: "Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy
yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might
learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so." Snyder's a
member of the Council on Foreign Relations (which includes former Secretaries
of State), and consults on political situations around the globe.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">He says, "Here are twenty lessons from the
twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">1. Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of
authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead
about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it
without being asked. You've already done this, haven't you? Stop. Anticipatory
obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">2. Defend an institution. Follow the courts or
the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of "our
institutions" unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf.
Institutions don't protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each
is defended from the beginning.</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">3. Recall professional ethics. When the leaders
of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become
much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers,
and it is hard to have show trials without judges.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">4. When listening to politicians, distinguish
certain words. Look out for the expansive use of "terrorism" and
"extremism." Be alive to the fatal notions of "exception"
and "emergency." Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic
vocabulary.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. When
the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times
either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the
Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of
power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the
Hitlerian book. Don't fall for it.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">6. Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing
the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only
to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. (Don't use the internet
before bed. Charge your gadgets away from your bedroom, and read.) What to
read? Perhaps "The Power of the Powerless" by Václav Havel, 1984 by
George Orwell, The Captive Mind by Czesław Milosz, The Rebel by Albert Camus,
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, or Nothing is True and
Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">7. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy, in
words and deeds, to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something
different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. And the moment you set
an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">8. Believe in truth. To abandon facts is to
abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because
there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is
spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">9. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself.
Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by
subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on your screen is
there to harm you. Bookmark PropOrNot or other sites that investigate foreign
propaganda pushes.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">10. Practice corporeal politics. Power wants
your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen.
Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make
new friends and march with them.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">11. Make eye contact and small talk. This is
not just polite. It is a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break
down unnecessary social barriers, and come to understand whom you should and
should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know
the psychological landscape of your daily life.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">12. Take responsibility for the face of the
world. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away and do
not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do
so.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">13. Hinder the one-party state. The parties
that took over states were once something else. They exploited a historical
moment to make political life impossible for their rivals. Vote in local and
state elections while you can.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">14. Give regularly to good causes, if you can.
Pick a charity and set up autopay. Then you will know that you have made a free
choice that is supporting civil society helping others doing something good.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">15. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers
will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of
malware. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of
the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For
the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Authoritarianism works as a
blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have too
many hooks.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">16. Learn from others in other countries. Keep
up your friendships abroad, or make new friends abroad. The present
difficulties here are an element of a general trend. And no country is going to
find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">17. Watch out for the paramilitaries. When the
men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing
uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is
nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military
intermingle, the game is over.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">18. Be reflective if you must be armed. If you
carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that
evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day,
doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this
means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about
training in professional ethics.)</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">19. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us
is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die in unfreedom.</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;">20. Be a patriot. The incoming president is
not. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They
will need it."</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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I am reminded that the poet Maya Angelou said: "Courage is the most important virtue, because without it, it is impossible to practice any other virtue consistently."</div>
Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-59041079279200364612016-11-24T21:32:00.002-06:002016-11-24T21:32:22.824-06:00Blogging in a new eraI let this blog go dormant a few years ago, but as we enter a new political era, I thought it made sense to have a place to store ideas more permanently than Facebook. So here we go!Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-39414713662408552032012-06-12T23:43:00.003-05:002012-06-12T23:44:02.245-05:00One Good Thing from the Charter Movement...It bugs me that the charter movement is seen in some quarters as the enemy of public schools. While it's clear that there are folks out there - and to an extent, in leadership - who are not concerned with the health of public schools or of American democracy, I don't think it's fair to paint all charter advocates with one brush. It's a complex situation, and I'm trying to pay attention...<br />
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Here's a <a href="http://issuu.com/newleaders/docs/principal-leadership-rubric/11">cool document</a> from New Leaders for New Schools around principal leadership - I really like this format!<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1844693328"><br /></a>Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-1322794653655686342011-10-24T20:13:00.004-05:002011-10-24T20:42:28.383-05:00Blogspot is now Google?Looks like one more aspect of our online lives has joined the Google network! I got a notice that someone commented on my blog, and when I clicked the link, it turned out to be a connection to a Goggle log-in. That's a change! Of course I haven't blogged in ages, so it may have happened months ago, but it both did and didn't surprise me.<br /><br />I was not surprised, in part because of the cover article of the most recent Fast Company Magazine: <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/why-google-will-win">Why Google Will Win</a>. There is no source I respect more with regard to the future of commerce than Fast Company. So I'm thinking about it. I've been using Gmail for several years & I love it. Google+ may not have launched in a major way yet, but it certainly has potential. I have started using GoogleDocs at work, and am seriously considering moving from laptop to iPad in part because GoogleDocs would make it easy to move away from Microsoft Office. So I give them credit. And it's not like I use any other search engine (outside of dissertation work) right? I even have my own customized iGoogle page.<br /><br />But it turns out that the article above is actually a small sidebar part of a larger article: <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/tech-wars-2012-amazon-apple-google-facebook">The Great Tech War of 2012.</a> The Fast Company writers actually make a case for each of the 4 big tech companies: Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. So it may or may not be Google; maybe that's just the cover of the mag that was delivered to my house - like New York and other mags, it looks like they could have 4 different covers this month.<br /><br />So what of the other 3? I'm not sure <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/why-facebook-will-win">Why Facebook Will Win</a>, but I have to admit I spend a lot of time on Facebook - in fact, it facilitates much of what I used to do here on Blogspot. I can share articles & other links easily. I can keep up with people that I love but am too busy to spend much time with. It's a great source of commentary on current events! It's even what we used this past year to facilitate communication for our 25th high school reunion.<br /><br />As for <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/why-apple-will-win">Why Apple Will Win</a>, I've been a Mac devotee for years! My first husband was, and I became one through our original Mac desktop back in the mid-90's when internet was dial-up, but we were thrilled to have it. The computers are a better product. I've used Mac laptops for almost a decade. The iPod didn't do a lot for me, though I used it. Now I have an iPhone and it's fabulous. Faster internet than my Blackberry, much better calendar synching - the real reason I switched - and of course I can play Scrabble with people across the country. Love it!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/why-amazon-will-win">Amazon</a> - not so much. I always resented that they squashed our wonderful Minneapolis Amazon Bookstore - and for no good reason that I could figure out. So I don't use it when other sites (like B&N) have an item.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see how all of this unfolds in the coming year!Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-68832162435576225032010-10-17T13:58:00.003-05:002010-10-17T14:01:15.328-05:00Positivity in Reform<span style="font-family: arial;">This week, Newsweek profiled the Charlotte, NC school district because of a unique idea: finding incentives for the best principals to take over the most challenging schools. And it seems to be working. Check out </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/12/how-one-district-fixed-its-failing-schools.html">An Offer They Couldn't Refuse</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> - it's similar to an idea that the Minneapolis teacher's union explored years ago for teachers but never developed. It makes sense!</span>Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-74772557323712230512010-07-25T23:13:00.000-05:002010-07-25T23:13:28.115-05:00Perspective - from Geneen RothI first discovered Geneen Roth in college, when I was struggling with "food issues." She's the wise woman who said "you can't hate your thighs and love your self. You have to love all of you." Easier said than done, but it's stayed with me.<br /><br />I want to share this blog post of hers, <a href="http://blog.geneenroth.com/notes_from_geneen/?p=28">Money, loss and what can never be lost, </a>because while it is not about food, it is wise and timely. I am not a "worrier" in the general sense - I don't stay up until my kid gets home, I don't fear the future. But her admonition to be "fierce about staying in the present" resonates with me this summer, as our family explores the many different options that present themselves.<br /><br />Good food for thought. :)Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-77780764346780454442010-06-28T16:11:00.001-05:002010-06-28T16:12:36.851-05:00Women in LeadershipWe don't talk much about gender parity anymore... feminism has become uncool. But even today, a woman with a professional degree makes $2mil less over her career than a man. And what's the correlation to the sad stats on women in leadership in Minnesota?! Pretty direct, I'm guessing. There are few women in the top spots in MN - we've never had a female governor - so there are simply few women making "the big bucks." Sad.<br /><br />J. Brian Atwood of the U of MN's Humphrey Institute writes about the issue in today's Strib:<a href="http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/97196884.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:U0ckkD:aEyKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr"> Minnesota Voices: Women still have a long way to go</a>Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-27852360031894383212010-06-27T22:17:00.001-05:002010-06-27T22:18:29.951-05:00Cirque du Soleil - High Bars from ALEGRIA<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgLdrDFuaHg&feature=related"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hgLdrDFuaHg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hgLdrDFuaHg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></a><br /><br />I love that YouTube has scenes from various Cirque du Soleil shows! The hula hoop contortionist from Alegria is also phenomenal.<br /><br />When I was teaching 7th grade English (and I just had this on VHS) I used to have kids watch scenes when we studied parts of speech. As you watch - what are the nouns? The verbs? The describing words (adjectives & adverbs)? Naming verbs is really fun when the actions are things like this! :)Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-23936262297153363542010-06-19T15:43:00.000-05:002010-06-19T15:43:02.222-05:00Tim Wise on Immigration<a href="http://www.facebook.com/emilympls?v=box_3#%21/note.php?note_id=10150159373730459&id=140254320968&ref=share">Facebook | Tim Wise: On Illegal People...and Forgetful Ones: Reflections on Race, Nation and Immigration</a><br /><br />I love Time Wise's work - he cuts through the superficial baloney surrounding current cultural issues with a scalpel. Regarding "illegal" immigrants: how many of us really have ancestors who ALL came here "legally"?!? My grandmother says we trace back to William Bradford, and the folks on the Mayflower sure didn't get any advance permission from the locals to settle at Provincetown. My German side also goes back so far it's impossible to say that they came "legally".<br /><br />Taking on the xenophobes who keep thinking up new ways to harass undocumented folks, Wise is right on: "The degree to which it is ironic is only exceeded by that to which it is pathetic."<br /><br />For me, it's about the kids. It's not right that the American Dream is denied to so many kids who grow up here - just because they weren't born here. We need to pass the "Dream Act" and ensure that kids are given access to college & careers no matter what their status was when they arrived. They're here now.Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-36962966845522298472010-06-19T15:34:00.001-05:002010-06-19T15:34:43.458-05:00Elena Kagan: Is Gender Finally a Non-Issue?<a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/05/elena_kagan_from_trailblazer_t.html?hpid=opinionsbox1">PostPartisan - Elena Kagan: From trailblazer to less of a big deal</a><br /><br />Someday the nomination of a woman will truly be a non-event. In the meantime, I'm still frustrated by the small numbers of females in the top ranks of leadership across America - including schools. But it's nice to see us moving in the right direction!Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-29643182401797189892010-06-19T14:53:00.000-05:002010-06-19T14:53:45.590-05:00On Gangs... and Employment<a href="http://www.startribune.com/yourvoices/96078904.html">Murder on Lake Calhoun | StarTribune.com</a><br /><br />Thanks for putting it out there, Gary! These statistics are real, and they aren't going to change by themselves.Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-60416445088662304032010-06-19T14:48:00.002-05:002010-06-19T14:51:48.035-05:00PSEO - it's complicated!<a href="http://www.minnpost.com/nextdegree/2010/06/18/18945/dual-credit_focus_now_is_on_under-represented_low-income_and_at-risk_students">MinnPost - Dual-credit focus now is on under-represented, low-income and at-risk students</a><br /><br />I'm frustrated by this movement, because what we're seeing at the local level is MCTC and the like targeting students directly & inviting them to participate - often in classes that are high-school, NOT college level.<br /><br />And now I'm hearing that MCTC has created a "jump-start" program that is literally high-school level. They get the $$ from the school districts, but the "credit" that this kids get doesn't count toward a degree. Lovely.<br /><br />And it's all cloaked in righteous talk about including more kids of color. In fact, I think kids are getting suckered and it's shameful. With all the money we are spending on AP, IB and CIS classes, kids have no need to go down the road for college preparation or even college credit.Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-46604081548098645642009-07-06T21:53:00.002-05:002009-07-06T21:58:00.762-05:00I Am Officially Married and BoringI haven't had time to write in a while... and don't expect to any time soon...<br /><br />Since I married JP, I now have a 6-yr-old for half of each week, which is wonderful, but also time consuming! And, it turns out that being married is actually more fun than writing, no matter how interesting the world happens to be on any given day.<br /><br />So <span style="font-style: italic;">adios</span> for the moment... I may change my tune, but for now, I'm signing off. My random commentary is appearing occasionally on Facebook, but that's about it.<br /><br />Peace!Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-46887898511685844882009-04-11T13:21:00.003-05:002009-04-11T13:24:02.748-05:00And Another Easter ThoughtFrom a random forwarded email from a friend - sometimes the best stuff comes that way! Here's a prayer for tomorrow:<br /><br /><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><u> Saint Theresa's Prayer</u></b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> May today there be peace within.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> May you be content knowing you are a child of God.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> It is there for each and every one of us</span>. <div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> <p><br /> <b>'Worry looks around, Sorry looks back,</b> <b>Faith looks up.'</b><span> <br /></span></p></div>Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-13615036748792694952009-04-11T13:16:00.001-05:002009-04-11T13:18:35.367-05:00Mel's Meditation on Easter<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Trade Offs</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">by Melissa Borgmann</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">What if we stepped into that space? </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Recognized our nearness to death:</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"> Thorny piercing of skin</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"> Nails through the wrists </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">(because the palms would not have worked, right?) </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">See this: </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Sharply hammered iron pins that are driven through epidermis, veins, </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">move over bone. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Yes. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Affixed. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"> [Can you imagine the craftsman who forged that spike?]</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Lungs collapsing from the tug of ribs</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Pulled down by the weight of legs</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Chest cavity crushing spirit. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">And we try to breath. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">We try. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">He tries. We try. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Something like blood or sweat trickles down from the temples. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Do you get a headache? Appropriate, or not? </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Yes, “This crucifixion gives me a headache.”</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"> [“Me, too.”]</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Pain is so inconvenient. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Suffering so easily remedied by, say, a cocktail? </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">A glass of wine appears. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">The bitter irony of drink. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">This is my body, given up for you.</span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">This is my blood, shed for you and for all, so that sins may be forgiven. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Do this in remembrance of me. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Have the meal, it is much easier. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);"><br /><br /></span><span><span style="color: rgb(164, 46, 24);">Amen.<br /><br />Read more on <a href="http://queenmab31.blogspot.com/">Melissa's blog</a><br /></span></span>Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20378066.post-30131249511979452662009-04-05T14:36:00.004-05:002009-04-05T14:45:41.463-05:00MN Ranked 5th in Health & HappinessA recent Strib article (3/11/09 - ok, I'm a little behind here!) says that a new Gallup poll ranks MN 5th overall in health & happiness - behind only Utah, Hawaii, Wyoming & Colorado.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">More specifically, MN ranked:</span><br />* 1st in physical health<br />* 2nd in basic access (medical care, healthy food, safe neighborhoods, etc)<br />* 4th in emotional health<br />* 17th in work quality<br />* 19th in healthy behavior<br />* 23rd in life evaluation<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The state that was first in each area:</span><br />* Physical Health: Minnesota<br />* Basic Access: Massachusetts<br />* Emotional Health: Hawaii<br />* Work Quality: Utah<br />* Healthy Behavior: New Mexico<br />* Life Evaluation: Hawaii<br /><br />I knew there was a reason I was living in a state that SNOWED on April 4th!!!Emily Lilja Palmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01121301530572933294noreply@blogger.com0