Live and Learn

Call to Service

Sally Pla — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:54:00 GMT

If you suffer from chronic volunteerism, as I do (my husband calls me the Master of the Uncompensated Activity), then you will love www.usaservice.com, a new website just launched today, January 7. (apparently the hotlink isn't working right on this...(read more)

"Grass"-Roots Governance?

Sally Pla — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:51:57 GMT

To borrow fellow blogger Ed Furey's phrase: "What the?" Here I have been glowing on about the governing-from-the-ground-up beauty implicit in Obama's change.gov website feature, "Open for Questions." In this feature, citizens...(read more)

Open for Questions: Update

Sally Pla — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:14:00 GMT

UPDATE: The Obama Transition Management site, www.change.gov, is temporarily taking down the "Open for Questions" web feature. They were overwhelmed with their response. I apologize that the link in my previous blog no longer functions (and...(read more)

Obama Open for Questions

Sally Pla — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:28:00 GMT

http://change.gov/page/content/openforquestions From the start, he's been committed to a transparent transition. Now, the President-elect is open for questions. Your questions. Click on the above official link, and ask away. Anything you think the...(read more)

Let's do the math

Sally Pla — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:00:00 GMT

A new study has reported that U.S. Students have improved in math and science. "American kids are doing better than people think," the article reads. "But some Asian countries have an edge in math that just keeps growing." (See http...(read more)

To baste, or not to baste

Sally Pla — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:02:00 GMT

Well, it’s almost Thanksgiving, the horror, the horror. For those of us moms who don’t particularly enjoy the culinary arts, this time of year can have its special challenges. Personally, I’d almost rather be in Target at 6 am Friday morning than in my...(read more)

A Charter for Compassion

Sally Pla — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:06:00 GMT

I hope you'll watch this short video. I hope it is a life-enriching three minutes for you. It was for me. My family did not participate in any organized religion when I was a child. My father said -- and he told the truth -- that organized religion...(read more)

Pulling up our pants and getting to work

Sally Pla — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:44:27 GMT

I've spoken to many friends and relatives this past week who, no matter what their political leanings, are newly hopeful about the future, now that we have President-Elect Obama. Hope is a new commodity, and it's trading high. That's not to...(read more)

A New Day

Sally Pla — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:33:16 GMT

According to news reports this morning, Senator McCain called Barack Obama at 10 p.m. to offer his congratulations on being elected the 44th president of the United States of America. In the call, Mr. Obama said he was eager to sit down and talk with...(read more)

All Over but the Votin'

Sally Pla — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:18:01 GMT

Eleanor Roosevelt said that the only way to grow as a person was to do something new that scares you a little every day. This election has scared -- and empowered me. I've pushed myself to get out there. I've dared to write about my thoughts in...(read more)

McCain can't use a computer?

Sally Pla — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:45:00 GMT

My cousin, who works for and with those with disabilities internationally, sent me this inspiring clip this morning. The vast proportion of agencies and initiatives for special needs in this country support Barack Obama for president. (If Sarah Palin...(read more)

The Seventh Generation

Sally Pla — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:04:29 GMT

Change is hard. And we haven't undergone this much tumultuous change as a country since Vietnam. We can all recite the litany of woes: two difficult wars, a tarnished international reputation, global climate change, a tanked economy. an interconnected...(read more)

United we stand

Sally Pla — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:48:24 GMT

...(read more)

people in the middle for Obama

Sally Pla — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Between the extreme right and the far left, there are normal people in the middle . . . . and this time around, they are all voting for Obama....(read more)

In One Week

Sally Pla — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:58:03 GMT

...(read more)

Election, Nation, and Education

Sally Pla — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:10:00 GMT

During last night's debate, both candidates lamented the fact that the US spends more on public education than other developed nations, yet receives a dubious return on investment. They both indicated that more money does not create a better education...(read more)

Here's a practical tool.

Sally Pla — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:07:37 GMT

...(read more)

Chicago's Citizen of the Year and Waukesha's Man of the Hour

Sally Pla — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:26:00 GMT

In a Letter to the Editor in today's New York Times , William C. Ibershof, chief prosecutor of William Ayers and the Weather Underground in the 1970s, expressed outrage that McCain/Palin are deliberately misleading the public about the nature of Ayers'...(read more)

Walking the Talk

Sally Pla — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:59:00 GMT

There’s a table at a local coffeehouse that I use as home base for a few hours every weekend. I set up shop with a milk-crate full of walk packets, political buttons, sign-in sheets, and clipboards, and await my team of volunteers, a revolving group of...(read more)

The End of our Consumer Era, 1968 - 2008, RIP.

Sally Pla — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:47:00 GMT

Amid this election and this economic meltdown, we have been tossed and buffeted by winds of words, by pointing fingers and the laying of blame to the right left and center, but let's try and confront the truth for a moment. Let's try to look in...(read more)