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As part of Google’s ongoing commitment to encouraging women to pursue careers in computing and technology, we’re pleased to announce the Google Anita Borg Scholarship, through which we hope to encourage women to excel in computing and technology and become active role models and leaders.

Scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background and demonstrated leadership. A group of female undergraduate and graduate student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool.

All scholarship recipients and finalists will be invited to visit Google headquarters in Mountain View, California for a networking retreat which will include workshops with a series of speakers, panelists, breakout sessions and social activities.

Award Amount:
$1,000 – $10,000

Deadline:
Usually In February

Website/Contact Info:
http://groups.google.com/anitaborg

 

Comprised of the sons and grandsons of runaway American slaves, the league helped pioneer the sport of ice hockey changing this winter game from the primitive “gentleman’s past-time” of the nineteenth century to the modern fast moving game of today. In an era when many believed blacks could not endure cold, possessed ankles too weak to effectively skate, and lacked the intelligence for organized sport, these men defied the defined myths.

While I might not be a big hockey fan, I’m all about learning more about black history. There’s some good information to be had. Check out the video and let me know what you think.

 

If you can control a man’s thinking, you don’t have to worry about his actions. If you can determine what a man thinks you do not have worry about what he will do. If you can make a man believe that he is inferior, you don’t have to compel him to seek an inferior status, he will do so without being told and if you can make a man believe that he is justly an outcast, you don’t have to order him to the back door, he will go to the back door on his own and if there is no back door, the very nature of the man will demand that you build one. – Carter G. Woodson.

60% of Texas students disciplined by expulsion or suspension

For some reason, this quote from The Mis-Education of the Negro  really stuck with me. Sometimes we forget how powerful the mind really is. We’re born into the world as blank slates and our life experiences build who we will eventually become. I hate to see articles like the one above because after a while the students and community start to accept these actions as the norm. It’s at this point where their thinking can be controlled by their surroundings.

In reading books on slavery, I always wondered why a plantation full of slaves allowed one person to control them. They easily outnumbered their slave owner, but never came together to overtake him. This is what happens to some communities and it’s only when the people have had enough, that they make up their mind to change their situation.

 

Chromebooks are lightweight, mobile laptops built for the web that give students, teachers, and administrators a simple solution for fast and easy-to-manage computing. The applications on the Chromebook are all web-based which makes it easier for IT administrators to manage what the students can access. Teachers and schools can set up Google Apps for Education accounts that would allow them to manage their classroom and store documents online.

According to the video, the students see it as a new way of learning and it gives them a chance to learn beyond what the traditional textbook has to offer. I believe there is a per student monthly cost for the Chromebooks, but the best way to learn more is to attend the webinar today and on August 3rd for more information.

Introduction to Chromebooks for Education

• Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 11:00AM PT/2:00PM ET – Register
• Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 11:00AM PT /2:00PM ET – Register

What do you think? How beneficial do you think this would be to students and teachers?

 

For the kids who are interested in learning how to hack, I think it’s a great idea (with the exception of the lock picking) to teach them in a closed environment where they can be monitored and encouraged to use their skill for good. Most people don’t consider cyber terrorism to be a big deal, but if you think how much we’ve come to rely on the Internet as a society, you’d realize the importance of this kind of conference.

Who knows, our next Internet security entrepreneur, CIO or cyber security specialist might be discovered. If done right, this can be a good thing. It’ll give these kids the opportunity to meet people with similar interests and teach them how to prevent others from falling victim to the not so nice hackers.

For more information visit www.defconkids.org.

 

But despite the lack of posts, I still get a decent amount of hits and readers are still leaving comments on some of my older posts. I’m not the most prolific writer and I don’t consider myself to be well-versed in a lot of the stuff I blog about. But there’s something about this blogging thing that keeps sucking me back into it. I’ve grown to love the black blogger community and it has allowed me to meet some amazing people. There are a lot of people out there with some strong opinions about society and the world as they see it. Those are the people who I like to showcase and support.

I’m making some changes to the blog and what I blog about. I love the current theme and focus of theotalks, but I want to remove the restraints and give myself the opportunity to be all over the place. The new theme of the site is “Random thoughts about everything and nothing”. While it may be a little vague, that’s how I want to run the site from now on.  My current theme of focusing on the black community is great, but there are so many other great bloggers out there consistently doing it. It takes time to put those posts together and right now, I’m at a different place in life.

So from here on out, expect the unexpected. As I feel moved, I’ll post about whatever is on my heart at the moment. I’ll also be showcasing some of my favorite bloggers and will work to get some of the guest writers back (you know who you are) to help a brotha out.

I haven’t decided if I’m going to start the podcast back up, but I might try my hand at video blogging. Only time will tell. Thanks to everyone who supports and reads this blog. It definitely keeps me motivated to stay at it.

God Bless.

Theo

 

Sure we don’t have our American utopia critics felt he promised in 2008, but let’s remember the downward spiral our country was going in before he was elected. Money was being thrown all over the place to fund the Iraq war, the housing sector was trash and companies who were too big to fail were in the corporate welfare line waiting for their share of the taxpayers’ money. It wasn’t pretty and I til this day can’t understand why he wanted to run for office in the first place. But he won and the country has never been the same since.

Our previous president told us that holding the office of  Commander in Chief is hard work and I agree. I couldn’t imagine having to be responsible for making decisions that affect millions of people, but I feel President Obama has done what he feels is best for America and deserves a second term. I feel confident that despite all the political bickering, he thoughtfully considers every decision and moves after he’s heard all the options. Yes, not every decision is effective. But what president, CEO or executive can make the claim that all of the decisions they’ve made have worked? In the end, he’s the one held responsible. So let’s give him four more years to see if the laws he’s implemented work.

 

This is sad and shows how much our representatives in Texas care about the future of our youth. While my kids might not personally benefit from all of these programs, there are a lot of kids who will. For those parents who might not have the money to send their kids to private school or get outside help for their kids, these programs and grants are needed. If you live in Texas, take a little time to call your representative and ask them to fund public education.

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WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY

ASK HIM/HER TO FUND PUBLIC EDUCATION

IN HB 1

THE BUDGET BILL FOR 2012-2013

CALL TODAY!!!

What you need to know:

Friday, April 1, the Texas House of Representatives will vote on the budget for the next two years. The budget on which they will vote makes deep cuts to public education.

• HB 1 proposes giving $7.8 billion less to the Foundation School Program (FSP), the main source of funding for local school districts. This is 18% less than is required by current law.
• Depending upon how a local school district chooses to address this reduced funding from the state, Texas could expect layoffs of thousands of school employees.
• In addition to cuts to the FSP, HB 1 cuts or severely reduces funding for
  • Reading, Math and Science Initiatives
  • Pre-Kindergarten Early Start program
  • Early Childhood School Readiness Grants
  • Science Lab Grants
  • Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program
  • Virtual School Network
  • Middle School Physical Education Grants
  • Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program
  • Extended Year Programs
  • Limited English Proficiency Student Success Initiative
  • Communities in Schools Programs
  • Student Success Initiatives
  • High School Completion and Success Initiative

What you can do:

CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE TODAY

ASK HIM/HER TO SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO HB 1

THAT INCREASE FUNDING FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

To find contact information for your state representative, visit http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us. Enter the requested information into the fields listed (this includes your street address and ZIP code) and then select “HOUSE” from the District Type pull-down field and click the submit button. You will be taken to a page that lists the name of your state representative as well as their Austin (512) phone number. This is the number you should dial to register your concerns about HB 1.

Partnership For A Healthy Texas Conquering Obesity

Members and Friends of the Partnership for a Healthy Texas -

Both the Steering and Legislative Committees have been quite busy of late reviewing legislation, serving as issue area experts and making sure the Partnership priorities are both promoted and reflected appropriately in the budget and in legislation. We appreciate your patience during our lack of communication.

We have developed two documents; one, outlining the bills that fall into the Partnership’s legislative priority areas and; another, outlining the bills related to obesity and nutrition that the Partnership is tracking (click on the links to download each in PDF format). Below, is a rough outline of the budget as it relates to our issues. As you are probably well aware, the Senate version of the budget is still being hammered out while the House will discuss HB 1 on the floor tomorrow.

We anticipate calling upon our membership more as the process moves along. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions.

TEA – HB 1

HB1 would cut $66 million from School Health and Safety, which includes implementation of coordinated school health, counseling and mental health, physical activity, nutrition, and health education, and health services. This is a 70% reduction in funding compared to the current budget.

In addition to the 70% reduction in School Health and Safety, HB1 would end the state’s investment in:

• Prekindergarten grants and Early Childhood School Readiness programs (down $223.3 million), meaning 144,000 fewer children would benefit from quality-assured public prekindergarten and school readiness programs each year
• Middle School Physical Education grants (down $20 million), resulting in 425,000 middle school students no longer having access to programs proven to increase performance on Fitnessgram physical fitness assessments and with demonstrated positive correlation with TAKS Reading and Math scores
• Life Skills Teen Parenting (down $19.7 million), meaning that 26,000 pregnant and parenting teens will have supportive services for graduating high school and learning healthy parenting skills
• School Bus Seat Belt grants, reduction of $10 million that would have gone to assist school districts acquire school buses with three-point seat belts
• Communities in Schools (though $9.7 million in federal TANF funds remain). 64,000 fewer students at risk of dropping out of school each year would no longer receive services that connect them to community resources that supports their success in school and beyond

The HB1 proposed cuts would be on top of reduction already made to the TEA budget in the current biennium:

• $2 million cut to the Education Service Centers that provide technical assistance for implementing coordinated school health
• $3.5 million cut to Communities in Schools
• $41,000 for School Lunch matching
• $850,000 for AVANCE family support

DSHS cuts

• Community-based obesity prevention (HB1: 53% cut equaling $15.6m to all chronic disease prevention, SB1: same)
• WIC Nutrition Supplements and Farmer’s Markets (HB1: $33.5m cut, which is 25,500 fewer recipients on monthly WIC Nutrition caseload, a 1% caseload cut, SB1: same)

TDAg budget recommendation:

There is a rider in the TDA component of the budget supporting the Texas Department of Agriculture’s capacity to coordinate existing farming resources and expand the Farm-to-School program by raising the Department’s full-time equivalent employee cap. This will allow the Department to create a Farm-to-School Coordinator position that will not require any appropriation of state funds. This coordinator position represents an opportunity to support the health of Texas children in a Legislative Session where cuts to children’s health services are endemic. A Texas Department of Agriculture Farm-to-School Coordinator position would additionally help support the growth of Texas farms, increase the availability of quality of food in Texas schools, and create valuable opportunities for nutrition education amid a costly obesity epidemic.

Carrie Kroll
Partnership for a Healthy Texas Chair

 

I’m sure we’d definitely see some results if this were a debate on raising taxes. Our priorities are so messed up. Please spread the word about March 2nd. We can’t let them get away with this and it’s going to take a unified effort to let them know we won’t stand for it. Don’t let them put Texas’ future on the back burner.

Read below for more information.

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Dear Board, APs, CPs and Past Presidents,

In response to the numerous phone calls and emails regarding our position on funding education, Texas PTA is sponsoring a grassroots one-day event on March 2. The email below is scheduled to go out to our membership tomorrow and again next week, describing this email event and how the grassroots members can get involved by contacting their representative.  Please use this email to help get the word out about this event or to answer any questions that may come your way.  And, as always, please do not hesitate to contact Texas PTA with any questions.
Thank you!
March 2 – Fund Texas’ Future Day!

Dear Public Education Advocates,

Forward this email to everyone in your community who cares about Texas students!

It’s the biggest crisis in Texas history.  Nearly five million Texas students need our help.  Texas PTA is proclaiming Wednesday, March 2, as “Fund Texas’ Future Day.”  It’s imperative we make sure our “house is in order” – the Texas House of Representatives in Austin, that is.  Please light up cyberspace by emailing your state representative on Wednesday, March 2.

Find Your Representative
Use this website to find your representative:

http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us

Once you’ve identified your state representative, use this format for his/her email address:
First name (dot) last name (@) house (dot) state (dot) tx (dot) us

Then utilize the points below that will most influence your state representative.

Please personalize your message, but here are some important points to include in your email to your state representative:

• Texas PTA’s legislative position is that funding public education is a priority.
• Regardless of what your campaign promises might have been, there are nearly five million reasons for you to look at all sources of funding to protect public education.
• Cutting funding to public education is not acceptable.
• The Rainy Day Fund and all revenue sources should be considered to fund Texas’s future.
• Texas children are our future.
• Texas businesses cannot thrive without an educated workforce.  The economic viability of our state is directly related to the education of our children.

March 2 is the day for PTA to take over cyberspace and let our voices be heard to protect our future – Texas students!

In addition, beginning March 2, Texas PTA encourages all schools to include the message, “Fund Texas’ Future” on their marquees.?