Random Bits of Information

12th Annual National Day of Silence Honors the Memory of Slain Lawrence King
Hundreds of Thousands of Students to participate in Day of Silence for Safer Schools

NEW YORK: This year’s National Day of Silence on April 25 will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old California student who was shot and killed at school in February by a 14-year-old classmate because of King’s sexual orientation and gender expression.

The Day of Silence is held by students every year to bring attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment. The senseless tragedy at E.O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, Calif., brings even more meaning to a day that has brought hope to millions of students.

Hundreds of thousands of students are expected to participate by taking some form of a vow of silence for the entire day or part of it. Their efforts will be supported by hundreds of community-based "Breaking the Silence" events at the end of the day. Together, concerned students will create a powerful call to action in order to prevent future tragedies.

Students hand out speaking cards during the Day of Silence that read:

"Silent for Lawrence King:
Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment. This year’s DOS is held in memory of Lawrence King, a 15 year-old student who was killed in school because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today."

There are simple steps that all schools can take to make schools safer for all students and to end the endemic name-calling and harassment that LGBT students and their allies face every day. We need to act now so that Lawrence King and the countless others who endure anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment will not be forgotten, and so that we can create an enduring legacy of safer schools for all in their names.

GLSEN’s 2005 National School Climate Survey found that four out of five LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and 29% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety. The Day of Silence is one way students and their allies are making anti-LGBT bullying, harassment and name-calling unacceptable in America’s schools.

About the Day of Silence
The Day of Silence, a project of GLSEN, is a nationwide, student-led event during which thousands of high schools and colleges bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. For more information and a complete collection of organizing materials, visit www.dayofsilence.org.

Posted: 3/24/08

Tens of thousands California residents are being sprayed under the cover of night with pesticides containing partly unknown chemicals. These sprayings, conducted inadequate health studies, are done not to protect residents from a clear and present public health danger, but rather to protect special interests worried about eradicating the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).

The LBAM spray operations in Central Coast counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz resulted in over 600 reports of health illnesses. State authorities have not only failed to respond, but now plan new LBAM aerial spray operations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Californians have a right to refuse aerial fumigation without proof of a clear and present public health danger. Any mandatory aerial spraying of chemicals must be shown to address a clear and present public health danger, and must be voted on and supported by the people in the area to be sprayed.

More Information:

The LBAM aerial spraying has been ordered by the Secretary of Agriculture, and due to a declared "state of emergency," representatives and residents are currently legally powerless to stop this. The legitimacy of this so-called "emergency" is uncertain; the LBAM poses no risk to human health but rather a contested threat to certain crops and plants.

Yet, government agencies approving the LBAM plan admit that the pesticide could pose a threat to some people, stating "not all health effects can be predicted and because the general population includes susceptible (people), such as children, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, we cannot provide a definitive cause for their symptoms [experienced after the spraying in Santa Cruz and Monterey]."

Read the following letter from Assemblymember John Laird of the 27th district to the Secretary of Agriculture demanding explanation. In his letter on September 24, 2007 you will see a dialog between the Assemblymember and the Secretary on this issue: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a27/moth.htm

The bottom line is that the Secretary of Agriculture secured power to conduct LBAM aerial spraying of chemicals which at least in part were of unknown composition over urban areas of California against public outcry and concern.

We need laws that protect us and our environment, not special interests, and to ensure that we are not subjected to chemicals against our individual rights without an immediate health danger, due process, and a public vote.

Additional information is available at http://www.stopthespray.org/

First I have to complain.  I have worked 11 hours today.  I got confused & thought it was Tuesday instead of Monday.  I'm losing my mind & the next time I type Baroque I may scream.  Terrylynn will have to let you know if that happens.  "Chris, we need to add this ???? flipping amount of work which is very very important."  Okay.  Stagers are great, I love stagers.  The last couple months I've been asked to "use a color of green that looks like grass after a rain" and to find a photo of a pen that is "hip & fun like us."  I had to find a pen with a hip and fun personality.  You'll have to let me know if I got it right after the reveal.  End of rant.

Terrylynn, Kym & Lori have all been staging for a while.  They have lots of inventory.  In fact, you may remember this photo of Terrylynn's living room:

So they have the brains of Stagers.  They've been thinking about inventory.  This will be a good thing for all of us.  But right now, I am tired.

There was your rant hint for the day.  : )

Oh - I am very excited because I've made our AR ad for the right sides of these lovely pages that we all visit so often.  Can't wait to see it there.