Monday, June 24, 2013

Reducing the number needing help

My lesbian sister dared me to watch this (without giving a hint to what it was). So I did, well at least most of it. The ending got a bit too intense and I'm a bit squeamish. It's Love is All You Need, an 18 minute movie (plus lots of credits at the end). It follows the experiences of a middle school girl. But this is in a world where being gay is the norm and the girl is bullied because she discovers she is straight. Not only are a lot of gay/straight assumptions reversed but so are a lot of male/female roles -- she didn't make the football team and settles for theater, which her moms think is for boys. This is a good way to challenge assumptions and allow others to see what we go through. It's been viewed on YouTube over 2 million times.



Essayist Terrence Heath has written about the "catastrophic success" of many of the GOP changes (actual and proposed) to the social safety net. It is declared a success if it is catastrophic to the those in need. As Heath puts it:
welfare reform did not reduce the number of people in need of help, but merely reduced the number of people receiving help.
But Heath found he was off on one detail. According to a new study:
welfare reform actually did reduce the number of people needing help – by shortening their lives.
That's still a catastrophic success.



The hydrangea near my front door is in full bloom. It is crowding the front walkway, but trimming will come later.


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