Memphis school principal outs gays… OUT-RA-GEOUS!

I am usually not the one to take side on this blog. I had decided that I would make it a place for people to learn things and not a place to push my opinion or beliefs, but this just made my blood boil.

Daphne Beasley, a school principal at Hollis F. Price Middle College High School in South Memphis, made teacher and staff give her a list “all student couples, “hetero and homo,” because she wanted to monitor them personally to prevent students from engaging in public displays of affection.” (ACLU Report) She promptly posted the list in her office for everyone to see.

Two male students who had wished their relationship to remain private, all of a sudden, found themselves being harassed, insulted and verbally assaulted in their school.

Ms. Beaslay also thought it to be wised to call one of the boys’ mother to let her know her son was gay. Adding that she did not like gay people.

To top it all, one of the two boys was scheduled to go on a field trip to New Orleans to help in the rebuilding efforts. He was told he was not going to go anymore because “some faculty were afraid he might “embarrass the school” or engage in “inappropriate behavior.“

People!!!!! What is this all about?!?!?!

Although I am not naive enough to think the world as a pretty pink place (yes, in my utopia, the world is pink!), I am just speechless when I read stories like this one. I wish their was a way for this woman, and all the people who participated in this, to be utterly humiliated and striped of their public servant - or whatever kind of status public education workers have - status. Pensions taken away, and all! She should be tarred and feathered, like they used to do in the good ol’ days.

Another amazing thing: a search for “Daphne Beasley” on CNN.com yielded… NO RESULTS! I’m not saying CNN is the authority on news, but if even CNN won’t even mention it, how will people be made aware??

More articles and info:
ACLU Report
The Harry Potter Alliance - Let’s Stick It To Dolores (For Real)!!!
Want to do something about it?

Investopedia Weekly Roundup

I’m subscribed to Investopedia’s RSS feed. A lot of articles come in: from earning releases to more general Personal Finance ones. I’ve decided to compile a list of my favorite articles for the week. Without further ado, I give you… My Investopedia Weekly Roundup Articles:

1. Measuring The Benefits Of Home Ownership:
   “Quantifying some of the tangible benefits and costs of owning a home”
2. Ten Common Questions About Social Security:
   While it is still actual, let’s look at some common questions you might have. From eligibility to amount perceived, you’ll get some of basics down.
3. Harvard MBA Indicator
   A definition to the term. I was just surprised about it. Never heard it before.
4. Get A Free Ride From Credit Companies
   Exactly what it sounds like. A few tips and tricks on how to use credit cards to YOUR advantage. This is not a “big secrets revealed” type of article. Just down to Earth advice.

How to Stop Receiving Donation Solicitations

I give to a few charities every year. Not a huge amount (about $40 to $60 to each). My three favorite charities are:

• The MSCPA (Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) - Charity Navigator Profile
• The HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) - Charity Navigator Profile
• The WWF (The World Wildlife Fund) - Charity Navigator Profile

I like giving, but I hate receiving solicitation from other charities to donate. I understand why they are doing it, but I have enough address label stickers to last me 2 or 3 lifetime right now!

I went on the hunt to find out how to get my name removed from shared mailing lists. I found an article on the Charity Navigator’s website, How To Stop Solicitations By Mail.

The bottom line is, in most cases, you have to pro-actively tells the charity NOT TO share your information. All of them should have a Donation policy page where you will be able to find where to write to request to be opted-out.

My Grandma’s Cooking: Potato Gnocchis in Heavy Cream

Continuing on the “Grandma’s Cooking” series and the not-so-healthy-but-yummy recipe trend…

I posted my Grand Ma’s version of Gratin Dauphinois (Potato Gratin) earlier. This week, it’s Gnocchis time! (which is my mum’s recipe)

Potato Gnocchis, if you are wondering, are little squishy lumps of a potato-based batter. I find them either in the frozen section or in the World Food section (in air tight container - sort of like fresh pasta) of my grocery store. However, if you’re feeling adventurous, you can try and make them yourself: ella at foodpluspolitics.com posted how to make gnocchis from scratch. I’m tempted to try.

Hubby doesn’t like Gnocchis. Why? “Because they look like big worms!”. He doesn’t know what he’s missing, that’s all.

Gnocchis can be cooked with an assortment of sauces, herbs and sauces. My favorite is with heavy cream and shredded cheese (that’s where the “not-so-healthy-but-yummy” comes in!)

The directions are super simple.

What you’ll need:

• 1 box of gnocchis (about 1 lb.)
• Heavy cream
• Your favorite shredded cheese (Mozzarella is a good choice is you don’t know where to start)

What you’ll need to do:

• Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil
• Pre-heat your oven to 375°F
• Empty the box of gnocchis. They are cooked when they all reach the surface, which should take 5-7 minutes
• Drain the gnocchis and place them in a loaf dish
• Pour some heavy cream… just until you start seeing the liquid through the gnocchis (the idea is the same as with the potato gratin, you do not want to cover)
• Sprinkle the shredded cheese
• Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes - we just want the cheese to melt and turn a nice crispy golden color
• Enjoy!

Photo: taste.com.au - Baked four-cheese gnocchi with walnuts

The Perfect RSS Reader…

Last August, I posted about My Quest for the Perfect RSS News Reader.

For some reason, I had my mind set on using a firefox plugin. As I mentioned previously, I went with InfoRSS first. It was fine but very distracting and it would list the 10 or so oldest posts from each feed every time I opened my browser - not just the unread ones. Not optimal.

I then tried Wizz RSS. It interfered with my bookmarks, which I always keep opened on the left hand side of my browser. I didn’t like having to switch back and forth. The setup wasn’t very clear either. It took me a while to figure out how to set up a Watch List - maybe I’m stupid.

In any case, both plugins had the same problem: synching between my work and home computer was impossible.

So, while reading The Zen of Tech: 12 Powerful Ways to Keep Your Online Life Simple and Peaceful by Leo at ZenHabits, I decided to try Google Reader.

Well, quite frankly, I don’t know why I’ve been fighting using Google tools all this time. I created a gmail account just 8 or 9 months ago. Didn’t find it special. I slowly started Picassa (the photo management tool). *shrug* Alright, not bad.

But then… Google Reader happened! I had one of those “ah AH!” moments. It is just brilliantly simplistic (in a good way). Adding feed is easy. It keeps track of your read and unread post with no trouble. Organizing your feeds is a breeze. I don’t have to worry about which computer I access the page from anymore.

In one word: I’m hooked (right, that’s three, but you get the point)!

We Are Wizards - Review

I think I mentioned once or twice or maybe thrice that I was going to the screening of We Are Wizards at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline on Thursday.

Well, I went, I saw and it was a really great experience!

The screening started at 7:30pm and lasted about 1:20. The Director, Josh Kouri, spent 3 years making the documentary. I’m no film critics, but I really enjoyed it. However, I thought it focused a lot on the Wizard Rock movement, more than any other aspect of the fandom.

Melissa Anneli, Heather Lawver and Brad Neely are featured - as the non-Wizard Rock participant in the Harry Potter fandom movement. They’re time is on-screen pretty short, unfortunately. Brad doesn’t not censor himself, and freely blurs out the “F” word. I don’t mind so much, but consider yourself warned. Check out cinematical.com’s review if you’d like a more in-depth look at the documentary.

At the end of the film, Josh, Melissa Anneli, Joe and Paul DeGeorge answered a few questions from the audience, which was very nice of them.

Finally, Harry and The Potters played a few songs. Check out these pictures, and this footage:

We are done with taxes!… (until next year)

We are done with this year’s taxes. The State’s $7 refund was posted to my account on Monday and the Federal’s $165 one was posted this morning - hasn’t cleared yet.

I’m very happy this year, we almost broke even. We didn’t make a huge interest-free loan to the government, nor do we have to come up with any amount of money - I’m most proud of the $7 from the State.

I understand people get very excited at the idea they’re getting $1,000’s in tax refunds. What I don’t understand is that they get excited at the idea: