source

The most recent Department of Agriculture report on the general characteristics of the SNAP program’s beneficiaries says that in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2010:

• 47 percent of beneficiaries were children under age 18.
• 8 percent were age 60 or older.
• 41 percent lived in a household with earnings from a job — the so-called “working poor.”
• The average household received a monthly benefit of $287.
• 36 percent were white (non-Hispanic), 22 percent were African American (non-Hispanic) and 10 percent were Hispanic (Table A.21).

We don’t argue that the program is either too large (as Gingrich does) or too small. It has certainly reached a historically high level, and may or may not grow even larger in the months to come. But the plain fact is that the growth started long before Obama took office, and participation grew more under Bush.

Now, I don’t want you to think I’m blind to the fact that there are people abusing the system. Just like the tax code is abused, I’m sure there are many getting over on the good ol’ US of A. But for the most part, in my special world, I’d like to think it’s beneficial to those who need it most.

As an added bonus, I thought I’d add a link to the WIC PARTICIPANT AND PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS 2010:  SUMMARY.

 

Press Conference: Bastrop County Judge Ronnie McDonald
If you want to help or if you know someone near Bastrop that can help, please forward this information:

Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management ( Like them on Facebook)
Financial needs are great and donations can be made through the Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance: 512-332-8661 or 512-332-8977.

Donation needs - Supplies needed at this time- new pillows, bed sheets, blankets, towels and toilettries. These donations are being accepted at Trinity Zion Church @ 151 Shiloh Rd., accepted until 7p tonight then beginning at 9am Tuesday. Call these numbers for donations information: 512-332-8661 or 512-332-8977.

VET HELP!! - A vet in Bastrop trying to do triage out in the fields for the Bastrop animals and she is in desperate need of help. She needs vet or medical people to help her, bandages, meds, whatever she can get. Please contact Christy at 512-796-0327 Pls. leave a msg. if she does not answer!”

Angel Care Ambulance - In need of non-perishable items, ex: can foods, bottled water, diapers, personal hygenie items, blankets, etc. If you would like to help, please drop off items at Angel Care Ambulance. 1105 W. Corpus Christi. We will deliver the items by this weekend. Any questions please contact Micki @ (361)542-9117, SHOES AND CLOTHES OF ALL.

For additional news coverage on this situation visit:
http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories

Please pray for all the leaders, emergency crews, assisting crews and people in Bastrop County. This is a devastating fire and the dry weather isn’t helping the situation. If I receive any additional information, I’ll post it here.

 

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.

 

We may not think of this as a really big deal, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2006, black men accounted for two-thirds of new infections (65%) among all blacks. The rate of new HIV infection for black men was 6 times as high as that of white men, nearly 3 times that of Hispanic/Latino men, and twice that of black women.

So think about that as you watch the video.

 

First off, I have to say I love the “Meet the Fockers” circle concept in Google+. The basic premise is that you can create and place people in “circles”, based on their relationship to you. For instance, I created circles for family, friends, blogger, photographers and tech. I find people who I want to follow and place them in a circle, so whenever they post something to G+ I see it. People can be placed in multiple circles and only you know which circle they’re in.

If they add you to their circle in return, they will be able to see whatever you post. I like this concept because it forces me to organize the people I add into groups giving me the option to decide who sees what.  It’s not perfect, but G+ is still in beta and the current user base is really proactive in speaking out about changes they’d like to see.

The hangout is pretty interesting because it allows you to open a video chat session with up to nine people from your circles at the same time. If no one is online, you can invite other people to join. I haven’t tried hangouts out yet, but I may give it a try. I heard they can be pretty fun. I can definitely like to see some location based hangouts in the future.

Sparks is just a running feed of articles on the Internet that relate to a specific topic you choose. I have a tech spark and to be honest I rarely use it. I created a photography spark today, so maybe I’ll get more use out of it in the future. You can share sparks of interest to you with your circles.

The mobile app for G+ is pretty sweet. It gives you the option to instant upload photos and videos directly to a private folder in your account to be shared or kept for safe keeping. This my not be a feature everyone may want, but it’s pefect for me because it gives me a way of getting that stuff off my phone. Most of the time it’s something that I want to share anyway with friends and family. The mobile app also allows you to view your stream, use hangouts (in chat only) and posts photos/video from your phone.

Finally, one of the best things about G+ is that Tom from Myspace has an account! He’s really posting some interesting stuff and it’s good to see ol’ Tom in action again. To be honest, I’ve come across a lot of interesting people. As more people  get access and start using G+, it’ll be interesting to see how well it’s adopted.

Is G+ a Facebook killer? Not right now. But it does have its place in the online social ecosystem. As Facebook and Google battle it out, this is bound to be an interesting summer in social networking. Stay tuned.

For a very good overview of how to use Google+ check out this post from the Social Media Examiner. If you want an invite or would like to add me to a circle, here’s my profile. Don’t worry, I’ll be nice.

As always, I want to know what you think of the service. Let me know in the comment area.

 

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.

 

On Father’s Day weekend, President Obama reflects on his experience as a parent and discusses the challenges and necessity of being a good father.

source

 

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.

—————————————————————————————————–

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