A Mama's Rant

A Merry Happy from the Obamas

I love how our president-elect gets social media, even back in 2007…

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!

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Ugh, I can't watch...but I must

Every notice how close Election Day is to Halloween?

You can vote for Snoopy. You can vote for Duck. You can even vote for Nathan Petrelli from the TV show Heroes. Just get out and VOTE if you haven’t already!

This has been one of the scariest and ugliest campaigns I’ve ever seen. I work as a community moderator at a popular social networking site and it’s been awful over there. Just the other day one woman started multiple threads calling Obama a thug, anti-Semitic, and racist. As if the usual nonsense about him being an Arab, a terrorist, and not an American citizen were bad enough.

More Palin political nonsense

I'm sorry, but I can't help myself. Did I mention I was going to dress up as Sarah Palin for Halloween?

Comparison: Tina Fey vs. Sarah Palin

Who seems more intelligent/prepared to you - Palin or Fey? Comment below.

Free Sarah Palin

I'm A Mama's Rant and I approve this message.

Hypocrisy so thick you can cut it with a knife

Jon Stewart is a genius.

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The best reuse of BlogHer swag goes to…the Momocrats!

The MOMocrats are holding a raffle - the Help A Mama Swag-rama - to earn money to go to the Democratic National Convention.

It’s the best use of BlogHer swag that I’ve ever seen! (Swag, for the uninitiated, is all the free stuff PR people send bloggers and that pick up at conferences like BlogHer.)

Since I’m on the same mailing list as many of the MOMocrats, it was hard choosing which gift bag I wanted to bid on. No I don’t need another copy of The Maternal Is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change since I got a free signed copy thanks to the folks at Mom Central. But it’s such a terrific book, that I know I can find a terrific mom or two to give it to.

So what to bid on? There are 27 gift bags in all at the Help A Mama Swag-o-Rama site to choose from. (I’m not going to tell you what I big on except that it involves chocolate, dresses, and booze.) Each bid is $3 and there’s a minimum $6 bid.

It’s easy to bid, too. Just choose the prize packages you want to bid on, put them in your shopping cart using the Paypal widget on the sidebar, and check out when you're done. The contest will close on Friday, August 8 at midnight PST. The winners will be notified on Saturday, August 9. 

Proceeds go toward helping the MOMocrats pay travel expenses to get to and from the DNC. I’m glad to help as I’m getting reimbursed by the folks at MOTHERS and the National Association of Mothers’ Centers to get into The Big Tent. Did I mention that I’ll be blogging there via the MOTHERS Book Bag and on the MOTHERS main website?

Just call me Hussein-Marie

(In response to "Just Call Me Hussein": The Meme)

Yes, we all know that Obama is a terrorist because:

• his father was Muslim
• Obama rhymes with Osama
• he wore a turban on a trip to Kenya
• and...

His middle name is Hussein. You know like that dictator in Iraq whose regime the U.S. overthrew? And whose country we put into chaos so that Al-Qaeda could move right on in? Actually, the only nice thing you could say about Saddam Hussein was that he and Osama bin Laden couldn't stand each other. Otherwise, good riddance to bad trash.

But I digress.

Did you know that Hussein means handsome, beautiful one, king or blessing the good? But some people think it means terrorist, anti-Christian, icky liberal, or taking over the U.S. for black people. Get a life!

Yet, even this mama can relate to people getting your name wrong. For years I have been called everything from Ann to AM to Emery to Annie-Marie. (I wrote about it at Writing invitation - Write About Your Name). I was even told by my second grade teacher that there's no hyphen in Anne-Marie. My dad called her an idiot.

So, in the spirit of my father, I'm calling all of you who think that being named Hussein makes you a terrorist by your true name.

Dumb Asses.

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Calling All Parents: Help Save Reading is Fundamental

The President’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 eliminates the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program which is Reading is Fundamental's RIF book distribution program. RIF distributes 16 million books annually 4.6 million at risk families.

When I heard this I was outrages. Without literacy and good reading skills, kids cannot learn. It's important to keep this vital program helping kids and families receive free books and reading encouragement.

What You Can Do

Act now to help RIF build support for reinstating the funding by sending an e-mail to your members of Congress.

You can also tell your friends online at Facebook:

• Become a RIF Fan
• Join RIF’s Group: Reinstate RIF’s Funding

I sent an email through RIF's site, which was easy to do. You also have the option of adding a personalized message about how important books, reading and RIF is to you.

Here's the response I got back from Colorado Congressman Mark Udall (D):

Dear Ms. Nichols:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Reading is Fundamental program. I appreciate your taking time to get in touch and I apologize for the delay in my response.

With increasing testing and accountability standards for our schools it is important that we provide students and teachers with the tools they need to become proficient in reading. Reading is Fundamental creates an excitement about reading for students by allowing them to take home new books, encouraging them to read at home as well as at school.

I believe we need to do more to encourage reading in our nation's youth; however I am concerned that the current Labor-HHS-Education budget does not do enough to assist our schools in reaching the accountability standards and guarantee that American students' reading and math skills are at an adequate level. Please know that I will continue to work for the resources we need to ensure a quality education for all of our children.

Thank you again for contacting me. To do my job well, I need to hear critical feedback from fellow Coloradans. For more information about my positions, please visit my website at www.house.gov/markudall and sign up of the email newsletter.

Warm Regards,

Mark Udall
Member of Congress

Let's save RIF because reading truly is fundamental.

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