Faux Youth Worker

City gives summer youth jobs to suburbanites - The Michigan Citizen

Boston people complain too much.

Apparently, Detroit's own elected representatives thought it OK to give our summer youth jobs to suburbanites. Womp womp.

"Only Councilwomen JoAnn Watson and Brenda Jones voted against the measure. Why would any council person vote against a summer jobs program? Because nine of the positions filled went to non-Detroiters.

Federal money for Workforce Development and summer youth employment jobs sent here, to the nation’s poorest city, with the highest unemployment, went to non-Detroiters by a vote of the people’s representatives.

The city provided no explanation to tax payers as to why city government felt it had to hire non-residents to do jobs city dwellers not only could perform, but desperately need."

Raise your hand if you own my fucking city.

And only 2 lost bookbags

Oh the joys of going on field trips with 6-year-olds.

Children's Museum...and Racist Parents

30 minutes in, already 2 "black kids" comments....

Not all of my kids are black, damnit!!!!!!

First Day!!!!

65 Kids, 14 JCs, 7 SCs, 2 Directors, 1 DOP, 1 Missing Fridge, 1 Found Fridge, and lots of happiness!!! Disaster-free first day, so far... --- Christian Starling | Harvard College, Class of 2010 Director, Mission Hill Summer Program 2009 Starling@fas.harvard.edu | 313.802.5272

Testing Mobile Blogging

To prepare for tomorrow....

MISH WHAT?????!!!?!

Ageism gets shat on (from NYTimes)

Supreme Court Says Child’s Rights Violated by Strip Search

The Supreme Court yesterday determined, 8-1, that searching a child while they weren't suspected of carrying any illegal substances, and then not apologizing to them when you don't find said legal substances, is unconstitutional. Gr8, I say.

Wondering who the dissenting opinion was? Yes, "our" very own Clarence Thomas. He says,

“Preservation of order, discipline and safety in public schools is simply not the domain of the Constitution,” he wrote. Justice Thomas also said Thursday’s decision provided the nation’s students a court-sanctioned hiding place. “Redding would not have been the first person to conceal pills in her undergarments,” he wrote. “Nor will she be the last after today’s decision, which announced the safest places to secrete contraband in school.”

Thanks, Clarence Thomas - you've once again proved to tons of people that it's acceptable for people to be morally ambiguous, as long as they're black (we've got the genetic trauma thing going on, and we're all from the hood, so that makes it OK to be oppressive assholes). Poor white people.

Also, thank god this wasn't a black kid being strip-searched. At least since it's a white kid, some precedent might be set that authority figures don't always have to suspect youth of being up to no good.

Wild Turkeys in the Fenway

'nuff said.

Voicing Pain Through Performance - NYTimes

I love teens. They're the coolest thing ever. And are generally much more resilient than most other types of people (meaning adults, older adults, and old adults). Check this out - kids dealing with trauma in a much more productive way than I did at that age.

History IS a Weapon, Mom!

Don't know how I never linked to this. It's called History is a Weapon, and it has probably the most comprehensive online list of leftist/revolutionary/marxist? literature I've seen. Lots of writings by a lot of different people - really useful to my boys a few summers ago, when they wanted to/needed to be informed of the many different ways fighting has been done. It's kind of lacking in BGLTQ lit/more modern material, but that's OK for right now. It has a much cooler interface here.

Funny story - I showed my mom this website, and she freaked out, and goes "Christian, have you ever seen this website?!?!?!". Oh mommit and her funny little connections...

http://flocabulary.com/

I'm using this not for my kids, but for my own IR theory class. Eff the CS Monitor.